Ghosts
by nick2951
Summary: Fllay, Stellar, and a connection between them that no one expected. Now ghosts from the past will expose the truth and will bring a new conflict to the Earth Sphere. KxLxF, AxCxM, YxS SxL, MxM possible DxM
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Don't own Gundam Seed or Gundam Seed Destiny

As the rain fell, a man dressed in dark slacks and a black trench coat ran through the streets in a desperate hurry to escape his assailants. His feet splashed through puddles which soaked his pants. However, the man failed to notice or care.

Stopping in a nearby doorstop, the man caught his breath and looked back to see if he had lost his pursuers. Not seeing anyone, he breathed a sigh of relief and checked his watch. He still had an hour to catch his flight out of the country with Doctor Chanka.

Making his way through the streets of Hong Kong, he ignored the homeless people that scattered about the streets of the run down section of the city. It was too dark to see their faces and the rain did not help.

As he made his way, the man was suddenly grabbed and pulled into a nearby ally by two large men. Struggling against his captors, he was dragged to the back of the ally until they reached a closed off section in which made escape impossible.

Thrown against the wall roughly, the man fell to the ground. As he struggled to pick himself up, he looked at his captors. Both appeared to be Asian and in their late twenties. They also were quite muscular and had tattoos all over their arms.

"Hello Doctor Davidson" greeted a voice from the shadows. The man's eyes widened as a tall Caucasian man stepped out of the shadows from behind the two Asians.

"Mr. Nelson" said Davidson with fear in his voice.

"Did you think you and Doctor Chanka could hide from me?" said the man. He was dressed in a gray business suit and had blond hair. He had brown eyes and spoke in an Australian accent.

"What do you want?" asked the Doctor as he leaned against the wall in fear.

"I think you know. Where is she?" answered Nelson with intimidation.

"I don't know" answered than man, lying. Unfortunately for him, the blond did not buy it.

"Please don't make me have to force it out of you Doctor, I rather not waste the time" said Nelson in annoyance.

Seeing that he could not persuade his captors, he defiantly yelled "I'll never tell you anything."

"I rather doubt that" said Nelson in amusement. He made a motion with his head and one of the Asians stepped forward.

Reaching into his pocket, the man pulled out a weird looking instrument that Doctor Davidson recognized. Backing away, his eyes widened in horror as the Asian approached.

For the next few minutes, horrible screaming ripped though the city clock. Though it was heard by everyone, not one person investigated or summoned the authorities. When the body was discovered, no one came forward to say what they saw.

………………………………………………………………………………

Doctor Chanka checked his watch, noting his assistant's lateness. Knowing that Davidson was never late for anything, the scientist deduced that the man was not coming. In fact, Chanka knew that he would never see the man again.

Sighing at the waste of talent, he picked up his suitcase and made his way to the transport bound for Orb. He was glad that he did not divulge the location of the girl to his assistant or their destination. He had no illusions to Nelson's means of extracting information and doubted that his former assistant could stand up to them.

Wrapping his brown trench coat closer to himself to fight off the cold, he boarded the transport with the other passengers. Taking a seat, he smiled at the woman next to him and leaned back to relax. Once he arrived in Orb, he knew he would be safe. Nelson might have considerable influence, but he was nothing in Orb.

Chanka began to think of ways of getting in contact of Representative Athha directly. It would be quite difficult and he did not foresee much success.

As the transport lifted off, he closed his eyes to take a short nap. A sudden thought came to him and he opened his eyes. Though he could not get to Orb's leader, he knew that there was a chance to go through someone close to her. Remembering a name that came up from his conversations with the girl, he smiled.

Kira Yamato

Please R&R


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Still don't own Gundam Seed or Gundam Seed Destiny

Kira Yamato climbed the small hill, heading towards the grave stone at the top. He was dressed in very casual clothing and carried a bouquet of flowers in his hands. When he reached the top, he stood in front of grave and laid the flowers in front of it.

His expression was one of sadness. Out of all the people he had fought to protect, she was the one that he wanted to save the most. However, he failed and she was killed in front of his eyes. The wound of that death still hurt and would probably never close.

"I know it's been a while and I am sorry for that. Things got in the way of me visiting you but that is all past now. I have news; Mwu and Murrue have set a date on their wedding. It will be in two months and everyone is planning for it. I am happy for the both of them and wish I could be as happy as them.

Miriallia returned to being a reporter and is doing quite well. Dearka is still chasing after her but she keeps blowing him off.

Sai is married now. I hear that he has a kid on the way. I am glad that he was able to avoid the last war and find happiness.

I am not sure of anything anymore, especially my relationship with Lacus. All we ever do now is argue ever since she returned to lead the PLANTs. She is too afraid to leave her position because she feels that the peace we all worked hard for will collapse. It seems in our fight to achieve peace; our happiness had to be sacrificed.

I miss you Fllay; more than ever now. I feel so lonely. Why did you have to leave me? I wish I had stayed and listened to what you needed to say to be before my fight with Athrun all those years ago. If I had, maybe you would still be alive."

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

"How long do you think he will stand there?" asked Shinn Asuka, leaning against the car with his hands in his pockets.

"As long as he wants, I suppose" answered Athrun, standing next to him.

"Well I hope he hurries up; the party is about to start soon" said Lunamaria with a frown.

"In a rush Luna?" asked Meyrin with a smile.

"She's just afraid of ticking off Cagalli" said Athrun.

"Well it is her party, it would be rude to be late" said Luna defensively.

"Its not our fault, Kira was the one who wanted to stop" said Shinn out of annoyance.

The four of them watched as Kira talked to the gravestone. They were too far away to hear what the boy was saying. They watched as he laid the flowers in front of the tombstone.

"Whose headstone is that anyways?" asked Shinn out of curiosity. When Kira had asked them to make a detour before heading to the Athha mansion, Athrun agreed as turned the car in the direction Kira wanted to go. He had a suspicion where they were going but did not say anything. There was a look in Kira's eyes and Athrun knew that look well.

"A woman whom he knew and loved from the first war" answered the Coordinator with a neutral expression.

The trio seemed puzzled at this. "I thought Kira was with Ms. Lacus in the last war?" said Meyrin. After all, that was what she had assumed.

"Kira and Lacus only got together after the war or at its end. Before that, he was with a girl named Fllay" answered Athrun.

"I didn't hear anything about that from all my conversations with Ms. Lacus" said Meyrin, surprised.

"That's because Kira and Lacus never talk about her. She is rather a sore subject to talk about with him" said raven-haired boy.

"Then how do you know about Fllay" asked Shinn.

"From what Cagalli told me; however, she had a lot of unpleasant things to say about her" said Athrun with a shrug.

"Like what?" asked Luna.

"That the girl was a stuck up bitch who manipulated Kira and used him. That she messed with his emotions and left a scar that he never healed from" answered Athrun with a frown.

"If that's true, why does he mourn for her?" asked Shinn in disgust for the girl.

"I think because it was a lot more complex than that. There was definitely more to their relationship than Cagalli says. Unfortunately, Kira never says anything and I don't ask" answered the boy.

The conversation stops as Kira approaches the car. Arriving, he nodded that he was done and the five of them climbed into the red car with Athrun driving, Kira in the passenger seat, and the rest in the backseat. There was silence in the car with none of the passengers having the courage to ask about the visit.

………………………………………………………………………….

The servant grabbed everyone's jackets as Kira and the gang walked inside the mansion. They knew that they were late but Kira seemed not to care. As they entered the ball room, they spotted Cagalli talking to a few parliament members and the ambassador from the Atlantic Federation. She was dressed in blues slacks and a white over coat with decorations symbolizing her office.

Noticing the new arrivals, Cagalli excused herself and made her way to them with a scowl on her face. Shinn and Luna decided to bolt and made their way to get something to drink. As Meyrin turned to escape, she stopped and looked at Athrun. Athrun made a motion with his head and Meyrin gave him a quick kiss on the lips before she moved to follow her sister and Shinn.

"You were supposed to be here forty-five minutes ago. What took you guys so long?" demanded Cagalli angrily.

"We had to make a stop" answered Kira with an emotionless expression.

"Where?" asked the blond, confused.

Neither Kira nor Athrun said anything to the girl. It took Cagalli a few minutes for it to register and then she finally understood. Deciding to let the matter drop, she turned and walked off leaving the two alone.

"That was close; I thought she was going to kill us" said Athrun half jokingly.

"Yeah, I guess" said Kira with a frown. Both he and his sister had gotten in an argument over the issue of visiting the grave before. It had ended in a yelling match and the two never brought it up again. Lacus had supported him, but he suspected that she was saddened by the prospect of another woman in his heart.

Athrun left to join Meyrin, Luna, and Shinn leaving Kira alone to his own devices. Looking around, he saw numerous important Orb Government officials as well as diplomats from other nations.

He felt very lonely. It had been three months since he had last been together with Lacus. There last time together had ended with a huge argument with her decision to stay on as Chairman of the PLANT Council. They had said some hurtful things to each other in front of a few others in her office and Kira had left in anger, saying that he going back to Earth alone as he left the room. He never looked back to see her expression and still wondered what her expression was. Both he and Lacus had not spoken since.

Taking a glass of Champaign and walking to the window overlooking the night-filled horizon, Kira silently toasted to the anniversary of the end of the first war. Though the Second Bloody Valentine War was more eventful, the first always seemed more important to him. He figured it was because of all the people he lost in the various battles. That did not happen in the second war. He actually gained more friends at the end.

He silently stood there and sipped his drink for about ten minutes when a tap on the shoulder caused him to turn around. Cagalli stood there with a sad smile on her face. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"I guess so" answered Kira with a small smile.

"Liar" said Cagalli.

"How do you know that?" asked Kira, raising an eyebrow.

"I am your sister; remember?" said Cagalli smugly.

"I am just feeling a little lonely" said Kira sadly.

Cagalli gave a reassuring smile. "You are not alone here Kira; I am here and so is Athrun as well as all of our friends."

"Yeah, but I wish Lacus was here" said Kira with a sigh.

"What Lacus is doing is important. We have to maintain this peace or all will fall into chaos once again" said Cagalli.

"Even at the cost of individual happiness?" asked Kira bitterly.

"Some sacrifices have to be made" stated Cagalli in a matter of fact tone of voice.

"Maybe I don't want to make that sacrifice. I've given enough to the world, maybe I should get something in return" said Kira with anger rising in his voice and looking down at the floor.

"Now you are sounding like a young kid. Life is harsh Kira, I though you would have learned that by now" said Cagalli angrily.

Kira raised his head up and glared at the girl. Without thinking out his words, he angrily exclaimed "I am sorry that I don't have an unfeeling heart like you Cagalli. I am sorry that unlike you, I choose to try to fight for my love rather than let it go because of my duty. Maybe if you focused a little more on love than duty, you still be with Athrun instead of all alone."

Cagalli's expression went to shock at her brother's words. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened ever so slightly. The people who were the nearest to the siblings were surprised at Kira's outburst and watched what the Orb leader would say.

Kira never gave her a chance as he shoved his way past her, almost knocking her to the ground. Exiting the ballroom, he went straight to the closet to grab his coat. While grabbing his coat, he reached into the pocket of Athrun's coat to grab the car keys. Once in hand, Kira turned around and opened the front door and walked outside, slamming the door behind him.

Marching down the steps, Kira walked in the darkness towards the car. He was glad that Athrun had decided to park in front of the mansion instead of where the rest of the guests had parked. It made it easier to escape.

Figuring that he would just go for a quick drive to let off some steam before picking up Athrun and the rest of the gang, he unlocked the driver's side door and climbed inside. Starting up the car, he was about to put into drive when he noticed that the gate was still closed.

Groaning, he opened the door and got out of the car. Walking up to the gate, he pushed against the large metal obstacle and slowly moved it forward. When he was satisfied that it was wide enough to go through, he started to head back towards the car.

As he neared the vehicle, there was a sudden explosion in front of him and he was thrown back against the metal gate. As he fell to the ground, there was a sudden ringing in his ears as well as a great pain to his back and head.

As he lay on the ground, he could barely make out the yells of people around him. It was then that he blacked out.

Author's Note: Here is my second attempt at a GSD fic; though I will continue my other one. As for pairings, it will stay an S/L and A/M; I am still unsure of Cagalli. As for Kira and Lacus, I do have a plan with those two but it will not be what you expect. You K/L fans will have to stay reading because the pairing won't be cemented until the very end.

Please R&R and a huge thanks to Noshmono and Sideris for the pre-read.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Still don't own Gundam Seed or Gundam Seed Destiny.

Kira's eyes slowly began to open.

The first thing he noticed was that he appeared to be lying in a bed. The second thing he noticed was that it was a hospital bed. Sitting up, he looked around the room. It was currently empty and the curtains were closed so he had no idea what time of day it was. In fact, he had no idea how long he had been unconscious.

Dressed in a hospital gown, Kira was about to get out of bed and find some cloths when the door opened. He watched as Shinn and Lunamaria entered the room. Both were dressed in different clothing than when he last saw them; Shinn in a pair of brown slacks with a green shirt and Luna in a red sundress.

"It's about time you woke up; Cagalli's been going nuts over you" said Shinn in amusement.

"How long have I been out?" asked Kira, still feeling groggy.

"For about nineteen hours now" answered Luna.

"Feels like longer" said Kira, rubbing his head.

"If you'd hit your head a little harder, then you would be sleeping for a lot longer than you'd want" said the raven-haired Coordinator with a smile.

"Ha ha; I am guessing that the car didn't explode because of a gas leak did it?" asked Kira in a serious tone.

Luna shook her head "I am afraid not."

"Bomb?" asked the Ultimate Coordinator.

Both Shinn and Luna nodded. Kira sighed and leaned back against the headboard of the hospital bed. It was really no surprise to him though it happened a lot later than he thought it would.

When the Second War ended, he and Lacus received a lot of praises and thanks from all over the Earth Sphere. Unfortunately, they also received a good number of death threats as well. Some came from elements of the Blue Cosmos and a few others from misguided supporters of the Destiny Plan. Security was very tight around Lacus and it would have been the same for Kira as well if he'd had stayed in the PLANTs. However, when Kira left it had made him an open target.

When he'd arrived in Orb, Cagalli immediately assigned a security detail for her brother; worried that someone would take a shot at Kira. They had done a good job so far and even kept their distance like Kira had asked. It was a little aggravating having body guards shadow you everywhere you go.

"Do we know who is responsible?" asked Kira out of curiosity.

"Not yet; Athrun and Meyrin are looking into leads. I still swear that your sister looked in my direction when it was announced that it was a bomb. Does she always hold a grudge?" asked Shinn.

"Unfortunately; just give her time though" said Kira with a shrug. Kira and Shinn had long since settled their grievances against each other and had become very close friends in the past year since the war had ended. However, Cagalli still held some resentment against the Coordinator for almost killing her brother and attacking Orb.

"Where are we anyways?" asked Kira. Orb had a lot of hospitals and they all appeared to look the same on the inside.

"In a military hospital at Fort Uzumi" answered Luna.

"We're at a military base?" asked Kira shocked. He figured that he was in a civilian hospital.

"Yeah; Cagalli didn't want to take any chances in case someone tried again to get at you. So she had you taken here. There's even a few mobile suits parked right outside your window as well as a pair of soldiers standing guard on the other side of the door" informed Shinn.

Kira nodded and started to get up. It was then that he noticed that he was wearing a hospital gown and looked at the duo. Luna blushed and handed him a pair of clothing before leaving the room so that he could get dressed.

"You know; if a doctor came in, he would want you to stay in bed" said Shinn in a matter of fact tone.

"I think I've been in bed long enough" said Kira in a tone that left little argument. Shinn shrugged and watched as Kira finished dressing.

When he was done, Kira walked over to the window and opened the curtains. What he saw surprised him. When Shinn said that there were Mobile Suits outside his window, Kira thought that the youth was kidding; but right in front of the hospital window was a pair of Murasames. From what he could tell, they were the latest model as well.

Sighing and shaking his head, Kira turned his back to the window and walked to the door, he opened it and walked out of the room with Shinn in tow. As they met up with Luna, a nurse appeared.

Before she could even mount a protest, Kira and the group moved past her and into the elevator at the end of the hall. As it closed, Luna chuckled at the face of the nurse as the elevator doors closed.

"You know Cagalli is going to blow a gasket when she finds out you left the hospital without the doctor's permission; don't you?" said Shinn with amusement.

"Yep" said Kira unfazed.

"Where are we going?" asked Lunamaria.

"To meet up with Athrun and Meyrin; do you know where they are?" asked Kira.

"With your sister" answered the Former ZAFT pilot.

"Good; I get to kill two birds with one stone" said Kira. He felt that the issues of their last meeting still needed to be resolved.

"What do you mean?" asked Luna, confused along with Shinn.

"Just something personal" said Kira in a tone that meant that the matter was dropped. Both Shinn and Lunamaria took the hint and let the issue go. They could always ask Athrun.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Cagalli sat at her desk with her elbows resting on top, hands clasped, with her head resting against them. Her mood was one of anger and frustration. Anger that someone tried to murder her brother and frustrated that there was no clue on the culprits.

Next to her stood Kisaka, also in a somber mood. He had great respect for Kira as a leader and a person. Though he had mixed opinions on Athrun, Kira was one person who he never wavered in his trust towards. Speaking of Athrun, both he and Meyrin were currently in front of them giving their report.

Cagalli had asked the couple to handle the investigation of the attack on Kira. She felt that they would be safe from her wrath if they could not find anything.

"The bomb was definitely planted after we arrived at the mansion" said Athrun.

"Are you sure?" asked Cagalli.

"Positive; it was hooked up to the clutch of car and was programmed to go off as soon as the car was set into drive" said Meyrin.

Cagalli closed her eyes and let the news sink in. If what Athrun and Meyrin said was true, then her guests at the party were all suspects. She dreaded the backlash that would result once her guests would be interviewed.

"We do have a suspect though" said Athrun.

"Who?" asked Kisaka before Cagalli opened her mouth.

"A waiter who was hired for the party; a man named Su Jing" answered Meyrin.

"Why do you suspect him?" asked Cagalli with a frown.

"He has been missing since the end of the party; his residence was empty and we cannot find him" said Athrun.

"I thought we screened all the outside help?" asked Cagalli, turning her head to look at Athrun.

"We did, or so I was told" answered Kisaka with a scowl.

"Well the screening was only a surface job; very basic. When I dug further, I found that Su Jing has been dead for over a year. He was a citizen of the Republic of East Asia and died during the second war" said Meyrin.

"I see" said Cagalli. She made a mental note to have a very long talk with her security people on their incompetence.

"Anything else?" asked Kisaka.

"I am afraid not; we can do some more digging but I doubt that well find anything" answered Athrun.

Cagalli sat back in her chair to think. She had always feared that this day would come. When Kira had first come to Orb, Cagalli swore that she would protect him as he did her during the second war. When the first few months had gone by with no incidents, a part of her felt that nothing was going to happen; this incident now made her very nervous. She wondered if there was more to come.

"So what do we do now?" asked Meyrin with curiosity.

"We place Kira in protective custody and increase his security detail" answered Cagalli firmly.

"I don't believe that he will go for that" said Athrun with a frown.

"Well he'll have to; whether he wants it or not" said Cagalli with her voice rising.

"How will you make him?" asked Athrun.

Cagalli did not have an answer for that. Making Kira do things was not as easy as it used to be. Since the second war, her brother became more stubborn, though not as much as her. Also, the older sister argument no longer worked since both siblings still had no clue who was the older one.

Cagalli still regretted their last words to each other before the incident. At first, she was furious at Kira for what he had said; he had no idea what it was like to run a nation and Cagalli sympathized with Lacus. However, when she thought about his words, she realized that Kira might be right. There were times when she longed to tell Kira the truth.

"We could do it without him noticing" suggested Kisaka, interrupting Cagalli's inner thinking.

"That will be hard to do; don't forget, Kira is highly observant" said Athrun.

"Not in everything" muttered Cagalli, but loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Huh?" asked Meyrin with a baffled look on her face.

"Never mind" said Cagalli.

Meyrin turned her head to look at Athrun and he made a gesture to drop the subject. Meyrin nodded and turned her head back to Cagalli. There were times when some things needed to be unsaid.

Cagalli was about to say something when the door suddenly opened and Kira, Shinn, and Lunamaria walked inside. Athrun, Meyrin, and Kisaka looked surprise at Kira's presence; however, Cagalli looked quite ticked off.

"What are you doing up? You should be in the hospital!" said Cagalli angrily.

"I think I've slept long enough; someone tried to kill me and I want to know who" answered Kira, not backing down from Cagalli's tone.

"We are handling it; go back to the hospital and get some rest" demanded Cagalli.

"Last time I checked, it was my life" said Kira with his voice rising.

"It won't be if you keep acting like a child, Kira. If you won't go willingly, then I will force you by any means necessary" threatened the blond, standing up.

"I like to see you try" said Kira stepping forward.

The siblings stared at one another for the next few minutes as the others watched silently. Finally, Athrun stepped forward between the two.

"This is ridiculous; you are both acting like children. Kira, you are supposed to be a General. Cagalli, you are the leader of Orb. Both of you need to grow up" stated Athrun.

Both siblings turned to glare at the youth, but Athrun met their glare with one of his own. Finally after minute of silence, both brother and sister nodded at the youth.

"I'm sorry; I just want you to be safe" said Cagalli gently to Kira.

"I understand but I have to do something or I will go nuts. I want to find out who is behind this attack" said Kira softly.

"You don't think this was just an isolated incident?" asked Shinn.

"No; I don't know how to describe it but this somehow feels bigger" answered Kira with self-belief.

"Fine, but I am assigning you a security detail" said Cagalli sternly. Kira nodded and understood that it was the only way to get a compromise.

"I need to discuss something with Athrun and Meyrin in private; Kisaka could you show Kira, Shinn, and Lunamaria our files?" asked Cagalli, signaling that the meeting was over. Kisaka nodded and led the trio from the room. When they were alone, Cagalli plopped down and rubbed her temples.

"That went well" said Meyrin confidently.

"As well as to be expected" said Cagalli with a sigh.

"I take it that you haven't told him yet?" asked Athrun, curiously.

"Not yet; it is not something one can bring up at the dinner table" answered Cagalli sarcastically.

"You are going to have to tell him about us three at some point" said Athrun in a matter of fact tone.

"Only if you want Kira to come at you with the Freedom screaming pervert" said Cagalli in a somewhat serious tone.

"Speaking of which, will you be joining us tonight?" asked Meyrin with a small blush.

"I am not sure; it's getting harder to sneak away at night" answered Cagalli.

"Well try to make it" said Meyrin walking around the desk and giving Cagalli a peck on the forehead. Athrun and Meyrin then left the room as Cagalli leaned back to think of a way to sneak off at night.

Cagalli had to agree with her brother; this was not a normal attack. It took a lot of resources to pull off something like this and that was what was gnawing at her. She knew that she had to track down the culprits quickly because all they needed to do is get lucky once.

And Cagalli would make sure that it would not happen.

Author's Note: Here is chapter 3 and I hope you like it. I plan to have the next one out soon as well as the next chapter of "Longing". As for the pairing, I hope no one is upset at the one established at the end of the chapter but I thought it would be something new.

A big thanks to Noshmono and Sideris for the Pre-read; Please R&R


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Still don't own Gundam Seed, Gundam Seed Destiny, or any other material from other elements.

This Chapter is dedicated to Storm Wolf77415

Meyrin yawned as she scanned the latest intelligence report.

Looking over at the clock, it read 2:30am. She was currently sitting on the bed in her room. Athrun had left a few minutes earlier to get some coffee and something to eat for the both of them.

Meyrin was dressed in a pair of green pajamas and her hair was let down. It was more clothing than what she usually wore, but with her sister, Shinn, and Kira were in their rooms that were not too far and certain appearances needed to be kept up. The group was staying in Cagalli's mansion for the duration of their visit to Orb.

It had been a week since the attempted assassination of Kira and any clues to whom were responsible had yet to turn up. The Blue Cosmos had officially been ruled out since their latest leader had been apprehended by the authorities and interrogation had revealed that they had not been involved in the attack.

Yawning again, Meyrin put down the report and laid back against the headboard. The door to the bedroom opened and Athrun came in. In his hands was coffee and donuts in which Meyrin was quite a fan of.

"Nothing?" asked Athrun as he handed her one of the cups. Meyrin nodded and took the cup from her boyfriend, drinking its contents.

"I passed by Kira's room on my way to the kitchen. He's exactly in the same spot he was when we headed upstairs" said the blue-haired young man.

"He really needs to relax" stated Meyrin, grabbing one of the donuts and taking a bite out of it. She smiled when she saw that her boyfriend had brought her favorite kind of donuts.

"I know; I keep telling him that. I think he is using this as a way to escape the situation between him and Lacus" said Athrun, sitting next to her on the bed.

"Do you think there is any chance for the two to patch things up?" asked the red-head.

"I don't know; both of them are being too stubborn" said Athrun with a sigh. His recent conversation with Lacus failed to do anything but anger her and ask that he stay out of her problems with Kira.

"I guess they all can't be like you, me, and Cagalli" stated Meyrin with a smirk. Athrun grinned at that. The relationship between the three of them was anything but normal and would cause many headaches for them if it ever got out.

Kira would just kill him.

……………………………………………………………………………………….

Kira threw down the piece of paper in frustration.

The constant dead ends were starting to get to the Ultimate Coordinator. After a week, he was still wasn't any closer in finding out who was trying to kill him.

He knew that he had many enemies; but there were very few that had the resources to get to him with a car bomb at a supposedly secure party. With the Blue Cosmos now out of the picture, things were looking very grim for the investigation.

Standing up from the desk, Kira walked over to the study window and looked outside. It was a clear night and the moon shown brightly in the sky.

It was said that if one had a powerful telescope, Copernicus City could be seen quite clearly. From what Kira had heard from his sister, Lacus was there right now meeting with diplomats from the Atlantic Federation in order to negotiate a trade deal.

He had tried to think about her very little as possible. The pain in his heart was starting to get unbearable and he really wanted to be with her. However, he wanted to be with her without any duties to get in their way.

Deciding to take a rest, Kira went over to his laptop that was on one of the tables in the room. The study was quite large and there were bookcases that aligned the walls. It looked like the studies that Kira had seen in books from the 19th century. He concluded that Lord Uzumi had used it frequently when he was alive since many of the books were less than eight years old. Plus he knew that Cagalli wasn't the person that used the room at all.

Turning the machine on, Kira sat down and yawned as the computer booted up. The laptop was custom built and the OS software was of his own personal programming. When the computer was done booting up, he decided to check his e-mail.

Going through the various messages, Kira deleted spam after spam. One message caught his eye which was titled: I HAVE A SECRET TO SHOW YOU. Clicking it, the page was brought up.

At the top was a message indicating a time and meeting place that was in two days. The meeting place appeared to be a small café at the edge of Orb's capital city. Underneath the message was a picture that caused the young man's eyes to widen and had to make larger to confirm what he was seeing.

The photo was of two woman, both appeared to be very young. One was blond with purple eyes and the other had red hair with grey eyes. They were side by side and were smiling at the camera when the photo was taken. Trees were seen in the background and the clear sky indicated that the photo was taken on Earth. However, it was the red-head that Kira recognized.

"Fllay?" said Kira as he stared at the picture. It was definitely her but for some reason she appeared older. He did not know who the blond was except that she appeared to be the same age.

What really confused him was the date that the photo was taken. It was at the bottom of the picture and indicated that the photo was taken on March 17th C.E. 73. Just a few months before the second war broke out.

Kira did not know what to think; He had watched Fllay die in front of him and had no idea how she could be alive in the photo. Deciding that he needed some outside input, Kira stood up to call the others.

………………………………………………………………………………………….

Peter Nelson sipped his wine as he lounged in his chair. He had his legs on the desk and he stared out the window to the city below. It was evening in Sydney with the sun just setting over the horizon.

His office was on the top floor of his corporate headquarters. The building was one of the tallest in the city but not so tall to call attention to itself. Nelson still had quite a view though.

He had to smile at the irony of his life. While being one of the only members of LOGOS still free of ZAFT, he was living in one of their main strongholds on Earth. Even though ZAFT's Carpentaria Base now belonged Oceania Union which had full control over the base, it was still regularly used by ZAFT. There were even Zakus still at the facility.

Nelson always took deep pride in the fact that he had outwitted Gilbert Durandal and his cronies. The PLANT leader had believed that Peter was just a minor cog in the LOGOS organization and thus received some minor information from him. In truth, Peter Nelson was not only a full fledge member but also rivaled Djibril for leadership. It was only because of Djibril's Blue Cosmos that he had control over LOGOS.

Now Gilbert Durandal and Lord Djibril were dead; the world also believed that LOGOS was no more. Nelson was free to act as he wanted. As far as most people knew, all Nelson did was build cars and other transportation vehicles.

The comm. button on his blinked and Nelson sighed. He was enjoying the silence and did not want to be disturbed. However, Peter knew that it was his allies and the conversation he was about to have could not be avoided.

Pressing the blinking button, a flat screen rose from the top of the desk. Putting legs down, Nelson sat up and looked more formal as a man's face appeared on the screen. He had green eyes, raven hair, and his facial features placed him in his early forties.

"Commander Stevens" greeted Nelson with a false smile. He was not fond of his allies and considered them nothing more than pawns. Unlike Djibril, Nelson did not have any genocidal thoughts about Coordinators and just considered them tools to be exploited. Besides, his mother was a Coordinator.

"Mr. Nelson" greeted the FAITH Commander. Unlike Nelson, his facial features were neutral.

"I understand that your group has recently engaged in an operation here on Earth" stated the business man with a small frown.

"I will not deny that" said Stevens carefully.

"Trying to assassinate Kira Yamato was foolish and idiotic. You are risking our plans" chastened Nelson with a growl. He was normally more diplomatic but this was something he could not let go.

"He is a risk to out plans. By eliminating him, a major thorn will be removed" argued the FAITH Commander, letting his neutral expression drop.

"I agree; but this is not the right time. You are risking our exposure before we are able to implement our goals" said Nelson.

"This is the perfect time. He has left the safety of the PLANTs and is exposed on Earth. From what I have gathered, he is even declining protection from his own sister. We will not have a better opportunity to strike" said Stevens enthusiastically.

Nelson sighed; if he didn't need FAITH and their resources so much, he would take out the group himself. The group was gunning for the heads of Kira Yamato and Lacus Clyne for a while now. He had a feeling that this latest venture of theirs was only the beginning.

"At least let me know when you plan to commence your next operation against Yamato so I can least ensure its success" said the business man. The man on the other end nodded and Peter inwardly smirked. Truthfully, he would do everything to ensure that it failed.

Unlike the leadership of Gilbert Durandal, FAITH's present leaders were tactfully lacking and easy to manipulate. The group had remained active within ZAFT following the end of the second war and still believed in Durandal's Destiny Plan. When Nelson had forged the alliance between him and the group, he knew he had no fear of them.

"Have you located the girl yet?" asked Commander Stevens.

"We have the Doctor cornered and will extract her whereabouts when we have Chanka" answered Nelson with another false smile. He didn't mention that the Doctor was in Orb. Knowing FAITH, they would prefer the direct approach in grabbing the man.

"And the weapon?" asked the FAITH officer earnestly.

"Ninety percent completed. Once construction is finished, all we will need is the girl to pilot" informed the business man.

"Excellent; let us know when you have her and we will marshal our forces" said Stevens.

"I will; until next time" said Peter. The FAITH Commander nodded and the screen went blank.

"Stupid fools; do they actually think I support that stupid Destiny Plan?" asked Nelson out loud with a sneer. He doubted it would have worked even with Durandal at the helm. The people had a long memory of slavery on Earth and it would not be long before the people of the Earth Sphere rebelled against Gilbert.

Grabbing the glass of wine, Nelson took a sip as he mused on how he would rid himself of FAITH when everything was accomplished. He smiled at the thought of using the weapon against them.

They would never see it coming.

Author's Note: Here is chapter 4 of Ghosts and I am happy to report that chapter 5 has been started as well as the next chapter of Checkmate. Both will probably be released at the same time. However, my next update will be for one of my Eva fics so if you're a fan of "Vengeance and Redemption", expect an update soon.

Next chapter will feature the meeting between Kira and Chanka so expect some startling revelations about Fllay and Stellar.

Please R&R


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Still don't own Gundam Seed or Gundam Seed Destiny

Kira, Athrun, and Shinn walked into the café, not sure what to look for.

It was a small café with only a few tables and chairs. The setup was entirely outside and a service window was the only closed part. However, it also appeared that a tarp could appear from the ground for certain weather conditions.

"So what are we supposed to do?" asked Shinn, looking around. The café was empty except for the waitress behind the counter.

"Take a seat I guess" said Athrun, heading towards one of the tables. Kira and Shinn followed him and all three sat down at the table.

Athrun looked at both his friends. It was bad enough that Kira was obsessing over the picture, but having Shinn as well was problematic.

When Kira had shown the group the photo, Shinn had recognized the blond next to Fllay as Stellar Lousier. This raised even more questions about the situation. It also threatened to re-hatch old wounds.

Athrun knew the blond was a sore subject with both Lunamaria and Shinn. Though the couple was quite happy together, the ghost of Stellar was a dark cloud over the horizon. Shinn still had feelings for the blond and Lunamaria felt that may cause their relationship not to progress.

Kira was purely obsessed. Seeing Fllay opened up a dam of emotions. Athrun still did not know the entire story of their relationship, but he did know that it left a huge impact on Kira's life. He also knew that it was also another factor in the recent division between Kira and Lacus. Lacus once told him that she was slightly jealous that the red-head had a place in Kira's heart; if Fllay was still alive, this could make things quite rough for the couple.

"Anyone want something to drink?" asked Athrun, standing up. It was a little chilly and he had a desire for a latte.

"A hot chocolate please" said Shinn as Kira shook his head. Athrun nodded and headed towards the counter.

There was silence between Kira and Shinn while Athrun was gone. Though they were technically friends, the two never really talked the way they did with Athrun. There were still a few issues between them that were still unresolved. Deciding to ask the question that was on his mind, Shinn broke the silence.

"Who was she; this Fllay? Athrun and your sister said that the two of you were once together" said Shinn. He winced at the memory of seeing Cagalli's reaction to the photo.

When she first looked at the picture, the Orb leader had displayed no emotion. It was only after Kira had left for the bathroom that she had started her rant. Cagalli had gone a good five minutes on how this was a bad idea. She stated that Kira was going to make things worse for him and Lacus.

However, Athrun raised the point of the timing of the e-mail; that it could not be a coincidence that Kira would receive the photo just after the assassination attempt. After thinking about it, Cagalli calmed down and agreed that the two events could be connected.

"She was someone I failed" answered Kira, lost in thought. By now, Athrun had returned with their drinks.

"During the first war, she was the only reason why I first started to fight; though I was fighting to protect all of my friends, Fllay was always the one I put first. I loved her" stated Kira as old wounds started to resurface.

"Did she love you?" asked the raven-haired pilot. Athrun also was curious for the answer as well.

"Not at the beginning; she blamed me and all coordinators for the death of her father. She used me as an instrument for her revenge. I think I knew that at the time, but I also was using her. I needed release and she gave that" said the Ultimate Coordinator.

"Then why…?" Shinn started to ask before he was cut off by Kira.

"In the end she loved me and I her. I saw her eyes right before she died. She was truly happy to see me and not the object for her revenge. I saw love and redemption in those eyes. It was also then that I realized how much I loved her. I didn't care about the past between us but our future together" said Kira.

"How did she die?" asked Shinn. He was starting to feel that his and Stellar's situation a frail comparison to Kira's and Fllay's.

"She was onboard an escape shuttle which was from the Dominion. Rau Le Creuset destroyed it with one of his DRAGOONS. She died right in front of my eyes" answered Kira, fighting the tears in his eyes.

"If she died; why was she in the photo?" asked Shinn, momentarily confused.

"I can answer that" said a voice.

All three of the Coordinators turned to the source of the voice; In front of them stood an elderly gentleman in his sixties. He was medium height and had dark glasses on. He was wearing a round hat and a brown trench coat with grey slacks.

"Who are you?" asked Athrun.

"My name is Doctor Gendo Chanka" said the man with a smile. While Athrun and Shinn didn't recognize the name, Kira did.

"The Geneticist?" asked the Ultimate Coordinator in wonderment.

"You've heard of me?" asked the scientist, surprised. He didn't think he was that well known.

"You knew my father" stated Kira with a frown.

"Ahh…so you know the truth about yourself. I take it that you know my role in the project?' asked Chanka, taking a seat.

"Only a little; most of the records were destroyed" admitted the young man.

"I see; for your information, I played a small part in your development" informed the Doctor.

"How?" asked Kira.

"Ulen Hibiki needed some of my research in genetic engineering for his project and I needed some research as well. So we traded information" educated Chanka.

"What project?" asked Athrun, curious.

"The project that the two women in that photo belonged to" said the geneticist with a smile.

"Go on" said Kira.

"About twenty-two years ago, a sudden thought came to me. Is there a way to enhance a person's genes after their birth? From what I was able to gather, the answer was no. However, I did not let that stop me.

I begun research

After the exchange of knowledge with Dr. Hibiki, I was ready to carry out my experiments"

"Experiments?" asked Shinn.

"Yes; I needed subjects for my tests."

"Children" stated Athrun, anger apparent in his voice. Kira and Shinn had looks of anger as well.

"Before you label me a monster, there is something you should know.

I chose children who could benefit from my research; though the Atlantic Federation banned the creation of Coordinators, there were still parents out there who desired to have their children's genes enhanced.

Sadly, the few private doctors out there bungled the operations so you had children out there born with genetic deficiencies than enhancements. One of the unfortunate couples heard of my research and inquired my help.

I had a many successes and a few failures. Some of children were beyond my help but I tried my best and they were better off than they were before.

I continued my research with the new knowledge I gained from my subjects. It was starting to progress.

Then something interesting happened.

A man came to me about his young daughter; she had problems with her genetic structure that doctors here on Earth could not help with. He was highly placed in the Atlantic Federation Government and could not risk his career by going to the PLANTs.

His name was George Allster"

"Fllay's father; but that means that…." said Kira before he was cut off.

"Yes, the young girl was a two-year old Fllay Allster.

The girl suffered from seizures that the doctors could not figure out why until they discovered that her genetic structure was deficient, or at least that was what they thought. Her intelligence, hand/eye coordination, and senses were all far above normal standards for a Natural her age.

When I inquired about her mother, Mr. Allster informed me that she had died birthing Fllay. He also informed me that there was no work on Fllay's DNA at all.

This puzzled me. Her DNA showed all the signs of genetic deficiency that was associated with the other subjects. I cannot tell you how nerve-racking it was to figure out why.

After a few weeks, I was finally able to understand what happening to Fllay was not a genetic flaw but her DNA trying to evolve."

"Evolve?" asked Athrun, confused along with Shinn and Kira.

"Yes evolve; Fllay Allster is a Natural Extended" stated Chanka.

"I thought Extended were created in Labs?" said Shinn.

"Artificial Extended, yes. However, Fllay's enhancements are evolutionary with nothing synthetic added. The flaws in her DNA were trying to catch up to the rest of her genetic structure.

After realizing this, I abandoned all other projects to completely focus on her. My first goal was to help her DNA stabilize. It took a few years, but I was finally successful.

But, not without a cost"

"What cost?" asked Kira, afraid of the answer.

"Fllay has some mental and emotional problems. I am not sure if that is the effect of my tampering or the condition of her DNA"

"You keep putting her in the present instead of past tense" pointed out Athrun.

"Yes; that is because she is alive" informed the Doctor.

"That is impossible; I watched her shuttle explode in front of my eyes" exclaimed Kira in bewilderment.

"If you are asking me how she lived through that, I cannot tell you. I did find her alive, though her physical being was very much damaged.

She was also pregnant"

"Pregnant?" asked the Ultimate Coordinator in a whisper.

"Yes, pregnant. I cannot tell you how surprised I was. Especially with seven heartbeats emanating from her womb" said Chanka.

"Seven?" asked Shinn incredulously. He thought something like that only happened in science fiction novels.

"Yes, seven" confirmed the geneticist.

"Mine?" asked Kira, looking out in the distance. Chanka nodded and Kira closed his eyes. It was starting to get a little much for him.

"What about Stellar?" pressed Shinn. It was she that he wanted to know about.

"About the time I found Fllay, my research and I attracted the interest of LOGOS. Djibril was very interested with my project and made me use it for his own Extended.

When the children were born, they displayed characteristics of Coordinators in the terms of endurance, speed, intelligence, and other attributes. I consider them the next step in human evolution.

Djibril wanted to use them as a weapon as well as their mother. Fllay by this time had physically recovered. However her mental state was reduced to something of a child. Her reflexes were as impressive as her children.

I did my best to hold off Djibril. I made clear that the children and their mother were not to be used as weapons. However, he wanted something to stand up to ZAFT other than his artificial Extended.

In the end, I had to make a sacrifice."

"What do you mean by sacrifice?" asked Athrun.

"Stellar" stated Chanka with a sad frown.

"How can Stellar be one of the children?" asked Asuka in disbelief. He always figured that the blond was the same age as him.

"Believe it or not, scientists have had the knowledge to artificially age people for the last twenty years. When I aged Stellar to the point where she could pilot, her mental state was affected and that was why she had the mind of a child despite her age. Both Stellar and Fllay got along quite well for, which you can see from the photo. I lied to Fllay about the truth about Stellar and I doubt she would ever forgive me."

"I killed my own child?" asked Kira, closing his eyes. He couldn't believe it.

"What happened to the rest of the children and Fllay?" asked Zala, looking at his friend in sympathy.

"When Heavens Base fell and Djibril fled, I slipped away with Fllay and the children. Deciding to hide them, I placed them in locations around the world where they could not be discovered easily. They are still safe and will hopefully remain so. I kept Fllay with me"

"Fllay is with you?" asked Kira loudly, standing up.

"Yes she is. I have her in stasis at my hideout. My last lair was discovered and I had to make my escape quickly" said Chanka.

"From who?" asked Kira.

"LOGOS" answered the Doctor.

"LOGOS is gone; Durandal wiped them out" stated Athrun in disbelief.

"Not all of them; one of them escaped capture and is after me and Fllay, wanting to use her as a weapon. My assistant found out whom but was killed before he could inform me" said Chanka in sadness.

"Where is she?" asked Kira as they all rose.

"Follow me and I'll take you to her" said the Doctor, leading the way.

As they made their way out of the café, Athrun made a call to Lunamaria who was in Impulse nearby. The Gundam was cloaked and keeping tabs on them in case of trouble. She would follow them and keep out of sight.

Kira was in emotional turmoil. He decided to let things go until he had Fllay with his again. After that, they would find their children around the world and be happy as a family.

Unfortunately, it wasn't going to be that simple.

Author's Note: This chapter was VERY hard to write. All the tech talk was hard to come up with and I apologize if it is too out there.

But then again, Gundam Seed is science fiction.

Thanks for the people who reviewed and I hope to have another chapter released soon. It will probably be after the updates of my other GS fics. I also have a few fans of my Eva fics who are waiting for updates as well.

Please R&R


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Still don't own Gundam Seed or Gundam Seed Destiny

Kira, Athrun, Shinn, and Dr. Chanka made their way through the warehouse district on the southern edge of Orb.

The area was barren of life and the ground was nothing but stone and cement. The warehouses themselves were made of red brick and steel. Apparently the area of the district they were in was one of the oldest places on Orb.

"Athha should really fix up this place" remarked Shinn as the group made their way down the wide path between buildings.

"She tried a few years back, but one of the old members of parliament argued something about historical preservation" informed Athrun.

"That's stupid" said Shinn, rolling his eyes. His contempt for politicians rose even more.

"I believe that's what she said at the time" said Athrun, remembering how the blond nearly threw a lamp at the old man.

"How much farther?" asked Kira as he followed the geneticist. They had been walking for about a good forty-five minutes.

"We're just about there; I needed somewhere out of the way as well as cheap rent" answered Chanka with a sigh. His finances were starting to get low with the money he stole from LOGOS nearly depleted.

Kira nodded and did not say anything more. To say that he was in turmoil was the understatement of the year. Kira was near collapse and it took all the will power he had not curl up in a ball. The knowledge that Fllay was alive was one thing; finding out that he killed his own daughter was another.

Though he never met Stellar, he had heard about her condition and felt guilt about what happened in Berlin. Any justification he had in ending the life of the Destroy's pilot evaporated and left a new scar in his heart. Kira had a feeling that more were to come by the time that everything was resolved.

After another five minutes, the group arrived at the last warehouse in the district. The building was situated overlooking the ocean with a collapsed wooden dock next to it. The building itself was similar in design to the rest of the warehouses except that its roof was gray instead of brown.

Walking up to the small door in the front of the building, Chanka pulled out a set of keys and unlocked the door. Opening it, he motioned for the others to follow him as he made his way into the building.

It was dark inside and the trio of Gundam pilots, despite their enhanced eye sight, could not make out much of anything. Chanka however seemed to know exactly where he was going and walked farther into the darkness like it was nothing. Finding a light switch, the large warehouse was partially lit up.

The warehouse on the inside seemed to be cluttered. Old rotten wooden crates lined the walls as well as other various areas and the walls were thick in dust and dirt. The floor was also dirty as well with signs of someone attempting to sweep the dirt away. Some feet away from the entrance, there was some lab equipment which appeared to have been used recently and a few metal tables with various documents scattered about.

"I am sorry for the mess but any type of cleaning was futile" said Chanka as he made his way to one of the crates.

"What's with the equipment?" asked Shinn, looking around. There was a familiarity to what he was seeing but could not put his finger on it.

"For my research" answered the doctor, knowing what was to come next.

"That was your lab we found during the second war" stated Athrun in realization, the memories coming to light.

"Some of it yes; another sin that have to atone for" said Chanka in a sad whisper.

"Were you responsible for the deaths of those children?" asked Shinn angrily, his fists balled at his side.

"Yes and no; though there was nothing that could be done to save them, they deserved to die by other and more humane means" answered the geneticist.

"What do you mean?" asked Kira, curious and hoping to head off Shinn before he did something stupid.

"Most of the extended created were children that had suffered genetic deficiencies; they were discovered in orphanages and Blue Cosmos training camps, thus they were brought to the labs. The children's life expectancy was so low that in a way, the labs were a blessing to them" stated Chanka with belief in his voice.

"I fail to see turning them into weapons as a blessing" remarked Athrun with a frown.

"Compared to the short and painful life they would have had, I consider it to be" rebutted Chanka, turning to look at the Orb officer.

"Was it you that killed them?" asked Shinn in a low tone of voice.

"No, I would have administered a simple drug that would have painlessly ended their life; I was unfortunately moved ahead of the other children when it became clear that the lab was compromised by ZAFT" said the doctor with regret.

There was no response to that and the trio of Gundam pilots let the geneticist continue with what he was doing.

Chanka pressed a panel on the large wooden crate in front of him and the enclosure started to come apart electronically. It was obvious that the crate was fake and in actuality, a means to smuggle something without it appearing suspicious.

When the crate finally became undone, all that was left was a large life size cylinder containing young woman floating naked in it. She had long red hair and appeared to be unconscious. While Athrun and Shinn's faces flushed and averted their eyes, Kira just stared at the woman with recognition and took a step towards her.

"Fllay" was all that he said while staring at her.

"What is she floating in?" asked Athrun, still averting his eyes. The woman was quite attractive and he felt some guilt in feeling that she was beautiful.

"A type of stasis fluid that is oxygenized so that she can breathe; another piece of technology that I acquired from LOGOS" answered the man.

Typing a few buttons on the control panel located on the side of the cylinder, Chanka put in his personal password and stood back as the console started to emit a buzzing noise. The cylinder started to glow and it was apparent that something was going to happen.

"What is going on?" asked Kira, slightly alarmed. He wanted nothing to happen to Fllay and was worried for her safety.

"I am starting the process of resuscitation" informed Chanka, assuring the Ultimate Coordinator that all was well.

"_Athrun, we got trouble"_ said Luna through the comm. piece in Athrun's ear.

"What is it Luna?" asked Athrun, bringing looks from everyone present.

"_There is about a group of nine men in plain clothing closing on your position. They appear to be armed with some serious firepower"_ informed the woman.

"Do you have any weapons here?" asked Athrun to Chanka, pulling out his pistol.

"What is it Athrun?" asked Kira, becoming alarmed and pulling out his own weapon. He started carrying a gun at the insistence of Cagalli in order to protect himself.

"We got some people closing in on us; looks like whoever is after you Doctor has found you out" informed the Orb Admiral, looking around for defensive positions.

"I have a few weapons over there in that crate; I must tell you though, its going to take another five minutes for Fllay to be ready. If we rush it, she could die" informed Chanka with a frown.

"Great" said Athrun sarcastically. Walking over to the crate that Chanka pointed to, he opened the top and pulled out an assault rifle, throwing it to Shinn.

"We need to protect Fllay" said Kira and both he and Athrun moved one of the large crates so it would stand in between the cylinder and the entrance.

"Where are they at Luna?" asked Athrun, as he moved behind a crate near the entrance some feet away from the lab area. He had the pistol leveled at the door and was glancing around to see if there were any other places accessible from the outside.

"_Four of them are moving to the front where you guys went in and the rest are circling to the back"_ said Luna.

"Have you contacted the authorities?" asked the Gundam pilot.

"_Yes; they're on their way. Do you want me to move in?"_ asked Lunamaria.

"No, we can't risk damage to the warehouse at this time. Get ready to move when I call you" ordered Athrun. Until Fllay was ready to come out, Impulse could not be called in for the risk of damage to the structure.

"Are there any other entrances to this place?" asked Shinn, looking towards the back.

"Just in the back, but the entrance is barred" answered the geneticist.

"Shinn, me and you will cover the back area; Kira you cover the front. Can you fire a gun Doctor?" asked Athrun.

"I am a decent shot" answered Gendo, taking the second assault rifle out of the weapons crate.

Athrun nodded and both he and Shinn made their way to the back of the warehouse. Both Kira and Chanka stood next to the cylinder with the crate shielding them from the entrance from where they entered the building.

"Three minutes till resuscitation" informed Doctor Chanka, reading the display on the console. The liquid in the cylinder started to drain onto the ground.

The door was suddenly kicked open and two intruders made their way into the building, pistols in hand. They were dressed in plain looking clothing and appeared to be of Asian decent. Looking around and seeing nothing, they made their way forward towards Kira and the geneticist's position.

Catching the duo of intruders by surprise, Kira appeared from behind the crate and fired his gun at the men. He managed to hit one of the trespassers in the chest and he went down hard. Kira then ducked back behind the barricade as the other man returned fire.

Chanka took the opportunity of the man's distraction towards Kira's position to engage the survivor. The assault rifle recoiled and very loudly fired at the remaining intruder. The man was, like his partner, was caught off guard and torn to pieces by the rapid bullets.

Two more men appeared and the doorway, armed with sub-machine guns. Both Chanka and Kira ducked and hid as machinegun fire riddled the crate. Pieces of wood were splintered off and it looked like the crate would not last long with the type of punishment it was taking. Fortunately, there were metal beams inside the crate which stopped the bullets from going straight through the container.

An explosion could be heard from the back of the warehouse and seconds later, the sounds of another gun battle could be heard. Kira hoped that Athrun and Shinn were alright.

The gunfire against the crate stopped and Kira peaked around the corner to see that one of the intruders was rearming while the other was covering him. Looking over at the geneticist, Chanka nodded and both rounded the corners of the crate at the same time.

The man covering his partner saw Kira first and was about to fire when he was taken down by Chanka. His partner raised his own gun, only to be hit in the head by Kira. Both were dead by the time they hit the ground.

The sounds of the other gunfight ended and after a few minutes, Athrun and Shinn appeared. Kira was checking the bodies for identification while the geneticist was checking on the condition of Fllay.

"Did you find anything on the bodies?" asked Kira, coming up short. The four intruders lacked any identification of any kind.

"Nothing; hopefully we can get something with their fingerprints" said Athrun looking about.

Kira nodded and turned his head to see what the status of Fllay was. The cylinder was now completely empty of fluid and now open. Chanka was helping the naked girl lie down and wrapped her in a type of blue robe that had been lying on the table.

After a minute, Fllay's eyes opened and she sat up. Seeing Chanka, she smiled in innocence and the geneticist smiled back. As the doctor tried to help her up, the girl looked around.

She clutched Chanka after seeing Athrun and Shinn, whom averted their eyes once again with traces of red on their faces. When she saw Kira, her eyes widened and she opened her mouth partially. Kira smiled at her and took a step forward.

Fllay screamed.

Author's Note: Sorry to leave you guys with an evil cliffhanger; I assure you that the next update will be up before the year is up, so hopefully you won't have to wait too long for an update.

The next update should appear after Checkmate and Sins of the Father; I am still trying to get the next update for GS Homeworld, but mimicking my friend's work is proving harder than I thought.

I also am working on my updates for my Eva fics as well so that might damper my schedule, but I'll try no too let that happen.

Please R&R


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Still don't own any of it

Kira sat outside the hospital room.

He was looking down at the floor, lost in thought. His face was blank but anyone who truly knew him could tell that the young man was in emotional pain.

Dr. Chanka had managed to calm Fllay down by sedating her. The woman's screams were heart wrenching to Kira and he could not believe that he was the cause of them. When she was finally unconscious, Chanka informed Kira of why she acted the way she did.

Apparently Kira's presence had awakened more of Fllay's memories; some of them bad. Fllay's reaction was due the sudden rush of those memories and her inability to deal with them. Chanka had advised Kira that his visits to Fllay should be minimal until she was used to his presence.

Kira wished he'd knew how to do that. He wanted to be by Fllay's side more than ever and he was starting to feel guilt because of that. Kira still had feelings for Lacus but with Fllay, his heart was being torn in two.

He suddenly felt a familiar presence and he looked up briefly to see Cagalli heading towards him. Looking back down at the floor, he ignored the woman when she stopped and sat by his side. Kira did not know why she was here but he was not in the mood to see her.

"Are you okay?" asked Cagalli, trying to be sympathetic to her brother. Seeing the red-head again was less than thrilling to the blond since her history with her was less than stellar.

"No" answered the young man in a monotone voice, not looking up at her.

"I understand; this has been a very long day for you" stated the blond, realizing that the statement was stupid. However, she could think of nothing else to say.

"What did you do with Chanka?" asked Kira, curious to the geneticist's fate.

"I have him in holding for now; what he did could be considered crimes against humanity" Cagalli answered.

"But I need him Cagalli; he is the only one who can help Fllay. He also knows the location of our children" informed the Ultimate Coordinator with desperation.

Even as he said the words, the revelation of him having children was still a shock to Kira. Chanka had said that they were scattered all over the world; hidden from whoever was after Fllay and the Doctor. Kira vowed that he would protect them no matter what.

"I will try to arrange a deal for him; has he given you anything yet?" asked the Orb Leader, not wanting to get into another confrontation with her brother.

"The name and location of the first child; his name is Sebastian Connor and he is located in an orphanage in Boise" Kira answered. Chanka thought it would be a perfect hiding spot for each of the children since there were lots of orphanages all over the world.

"That is in the Atlantic Federation; it might be difficult to get to him without being noticed since you are quite a celebrity around the world" informed the blond.

There was also the factor that relations with the Atlantic Federation were not the best at the moment. Orb and ZAFT were still considered hostile by members of the population and the Federation Government; making things tense at times. Lacus and Cagalli had managed to create a number of programs that had improved relations with the remaining superpower; including a military exchange program.

"Is there any way we can talk to them; get them to let us get my son?" asked the Coordinator.

Cagalli thought about his request; she was still astonished that she had a number of nieces and nephews scattered about. She knew that it was still unknown who there enemy was and the blond suspected that he/she was behind the attempted assassination of Kira a few days earlier. There was the possibility that the culprits had ears within the Atlantic Federation and would try to get to the child before them.

There was only one way to grant Kira's request but it would involve an act of espionage on the part of Orb. It would be extremely risky and could destroy any progress she made in establishing relations with the Atlantic Federation. However; she learned from experience that sometimes family came first no matter what.

"I think I know of a way; but you need to be very careful in how you proceed" said Cagalli with deadly seriousness.

"I understand" said Kira, wondering if he truly did.

"No, I don't think you do so that is why you will not be going in alone" stated the sister, giving her brother a hard look.

"This is my problem Cagalli; no one needs to get involved" said Kira, giving his sister a hard look of his own.

"I am afraid I can't let you do that" said a voice, causing the twins to look up. Athrun approached them with a smile on his face.

"I can take care of myself; you have done more than enough for me" said the Ultimate Coordinator. Kira did not want anyone else to get hurt because of him and his problem.

"If I am not by your side, you would get yourself killed as well as your children. I am coming with you as well as Shinn, Luna, and Meyrin" stated Athrun in a matter of fact tone.

"Are you going to leave Fllay here?" asked Cagalli before Kira could argue.

"I think she should come with me; she needs to be with someone who can care for her as well as she is the most familiar with the children" said Kira with conviction. Cagalli was going to protest but was silenced by a look from Athrun.

As the twins discussed Cagalli's plan, Athrun's thought drifted back to the transmission he just received from Lacus. The Songstress was concerned for Kira's safety and asked Athrun to convince Kira to return to the PLANTs. He had neglected to inform her of the current situation but knew it would be only a matter of time before she found out.

Then it would get ugly.

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

"So all we need is the girl?" asked Nelson, staring up at IT.

"Yes Sir; everything is ready to go once we have her" answered the Chief Engineer.

They were located in a small factory hidden underground Tanami Desert. It had used to be in the possession of LOGOS up until the end of the war but was taken over by Nelson. The facility was unknown to ZAFT which was ironic since it had existed long before the first war.

"What about the other units?" asked Peter, looking at the older man; the engineer and his staff amongst his loyal forces that had left LOGOS with Nelson.

"A hundred so far; we are working as fast as we can without drawing too much attention" the Chief Engineer informed.

"Do what you can; my plan to use FAITH and their allies as cannon fodder will only go so far. Once of army is ready, we will not need them anymore" stated Nelson with a sadistic grin.

"Understood; the control system is ready to go so there are no problems there. Will you be piloting IT once we have HER?" asked the man.

"Of course; it is only natural that a General lead his army from the front. With HER and IT, I will be invincible on the battlefield" said the business man with an evil laugh.

While Djibril preferred to sit back and let others fight for him, Nelson loved to be at the front. He was an excellent mobile suit pilot and had actually piloted a Strike Dagger in the first war. His enhanced genes allowed his to match any ZAFT opponent he came across with ease.

He had longed to pilot IT when the plans first came across his desk. Djibril had turned down construction of IT in favor of the Destroy; even though IT was far more superior in terms of firepower and strength. However, it was very expensive to build and required a specific type of control system.

Which is why SHE was needed so badly.

Nelson wasn't upset when he learned that his agents failed in trying to capture the girl. Not only did they succeed in drawing out the doctor and the location of HER, they also were expendable and did not know who they were working for.

He had studied her biography closely and knew what her connection to Kira Yamato was. Nelson knew from his intimate knowledge of the Ultimate Coordinator that the young man would do anything to protect her and would keep her close so that he could protect her.

All Nelson had to do was be patient and wait for the right opportunity to grab the girl. He planned to have FAITH handle that part in case she was brought into space. Part of the new agreement between him and FAITH was that he would handle things on Earth while they would handle things in space.

Hopefully, FAITH would use up a great deal of resources to grab the girl so it would be less burdensome to eliminate once he was done with them. Nelson knew that they were planning to do the same thing with him but he had the advantage. All they knew was IT, not his army.

Turning his back to the engineer, Nelson made his way along the catwalk to the hanger. Once there, he would take his private jet back to Sydney to his corporate headquarters. He had a meeting with his department heads over the new rules of business that the Oceana Union had established with the influence of Lacus Clyne.

The new regulations would only affect him a little but the business leader still found them aggravating. The Songstress was involving herself in the matters of the business world and Nelson knew that it could not continue. He had hoped FAITH would try and get at the young woman but she was too heavily protected.

Once he piloted IT, no one would be safe from him

Author's Note: Hoped you like this chapter and I plan to release the next one by the beginning of next month. I plan to update my Eva fics this month so they take top priority.

Also, if you are wondering what IT is; you'll have to wait a few chapters for IT to be revealed.

Next chapter will feature the first child of Kira and Fllay's to be retrieved. I named him in honor of StormWolf who I hold in high regard. More of the Children will also be named after K/F authors. Also expect some more K/F interaction and am sorry of the lack of it this chapter.

Please R&R!


	8. Author's Rant

Disclaimer: Still don't own it

Disclaimer: Still don't own it.

Author's Quick Note: I want to thank all those who supported me during my little rant. I appreciated the messages I got; but I do still plan my anti-ZAFT fic which will be titled "Kira Yamato: Soldier of LOGOS". The ZAFT fanboy responded to my rant with one of his own, but the coward once again deleted his e-mail account before I could respond.

"This is stupid," muttered Shinn as he put on the brown colored uniform.

"Unless you want to be recognized the minute the Coast Guard come aboard, I suggest you shut up and get dressed," said Athrun testily as he zipped up his own uniform.

"We've been here for a week now; how much longer till we get to leave?" groaned the young man as the two made their way out of the bathroom.

"When Kira gets back with his child," answered the former ZAFT pilot.

"That still sounds weird no matter how much it is said," commented Shinn.

"Try taking it from Kira's point of view," said Athrun dryly.

"And I thought I had issues," said Shinn quietly to himself.

The two walked down the hall towards the stairs to the upper deck. Meeting them there was Lunamaria who smirked playfully at Shinn's slight discomfort. Together, the three climbed the staircase and made their way onto the deck of the ship.

The ocean air sprayed in their faces and the sky was devoid of clouds. It was early in the afternoon with the sun just making its way to the highest point in the sky.

Currently docked in the San Francisco harbor, the freighter was awaiting the routine Coast Guard patrol. While there wasn't much to be worried about, the Captain wanted to make sure that there was nothing suspicious with the ship's visit.

Though the Atlantic Federation was less Anti-Coordinator, there was still a danger in being in the nation. The Blue Cosmos were still out there and had significant presences in the major cities. San Francisco was a hotbed of Blue Cosmos activity due largely to the resentment by the lower class of the economic chart.

Even today, it took a good amount of capital to make a child a Coordinator. That fact alone was why most of the members of the Blue Cosmos still existed.

"Well let's get to it," said Athrun as he picked up a mop and started cleaning the deck. Shinn and Luna sighed and took a similar action along side the young man.

A shadow soon fell on them and all three of the Gundam pilots looked up as a trio of Strike Daggers hovered overhead. The antique MS floated there for a few minutes as they scanned the ship for any abnormalities. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, the MS moved on to the next ship.

"I don't know what's more funny, that we have to pretend we're ordinary sailors or the fact that Strike Daggers are still being used by the Atlantic Federation who is supposed to be one of the most powerful nations on the planet," Shinn stated, throwing the mop to the ground.

"From what Cagalli has told me, the AF had a surplus of Strike Daggers after the first war and assigned a great many of them to their National Guard units and the Coast Guard. This is why ZAFT was never able to get a foothold in the AF during the second war since they had the advantage of numbers on their side," informed Athrun as he watched the MS get smaller on the horizon.

"They're just Strike Daggers," scoffed the young man, not seeing the AF suits as a threat.

"Get enough Strike Daggers together and they become a serious threat; just because a suit can be an antique, doesn't mean that it isn't anymore dangerous," chastened the elder pilot.

Shinn just rolled his eyes and headed away from the duo to the inner bowels of the ship.

The ship itself was a converted freighter designed for intelligence purposes. The Athha crest was painted along the side of the hull since the ship belonged to Cagalli's family directly and not part of the regular Orb shipping fleet.

It was able to hold a couple of mobile suits without them being detected by authorities due to hidden compartment in the cargo hold. Currently, Impulse was stored along with its various accessories and a Murasame.

Cagalli had felt the need of a personal intelligence service after the fiasco with the Sierans during the second war. She wanted a second pair of eyes on the world just in case there was another attempt to oust her. The members were loyal only to her and her family.

"When do you think Kira will be back?" asked Luna.

"I got a call from him and the team this morning, they expect to be back with his child by the end of the week" answered the pilot and he stared out at the ocean.

"I still don't see why he didn't want us to go with him," stated the red-head as she leaned back against the rail.

"It's complicated," said Athrun, shaking his head, "It took a great deal just to convince him to take a team with him." In fact, Athrun had to force the issue with his friend.

Kira wanted to go alone but it took Athrun all he could just to convince the Gundam pilot that it was a very stupid thing to do. It took a threat from Athrun to tell Cagalli in order to force Kira to agree to bring a few agents along with him. Athrun had instructed the agents to watch Kira like a hawk in case he tried to lose them on purpose.

Athrun just hoped the agents were as good as Cagalli said they were; otherwise, there would be a lot of trouble. He did not want to mount a rescue mission inside Atlantic Federation territory and blow their cover.

Cagalli would kill him.

Sighing, the Gundam pilot walked away from the rail with Luna in tow. It was time to go check on Fllay.

The woman was in one of the rooms in the living quarters of the ship. Kira had decided, with a great deal of convincing from everyone else, that it was best to leave her on the ship where she could be better protected.

So far, everything had gone well; Meyrin was handling Fllay and so far there had been no problems.

Athrun hoped it would last.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Kira walked up to the orphanage, trying to look normal as possible despite being nervous as hell. He was about to meet one of his children; a six-year old child by the name of Sebastian Connor.

Across the street was the rest of the team in a large white van that had been brought over on the ship. It was specifically designed and equipped for Intelligence operations as well as a quick getaway if needed. The agents were watching just in case something happened.

Knocking, the door opened up to an old woman with short grey hair and glasses. She was dressed in a pair of white slacks and a brown sweatshirt. Her smile was pleasant and disarming, giving Kira the impression that he was dealing with a caring person.

"Can I help you young man?" asked the woman.

"I am here to recover a child if he hasn't been adopted already" said Kira nervously. His plan was to only pick up the children that had yet to be place in a new home.

After much thought, Kira wanted to make sure his and Fllay's children have a normal life as possible. If the children were already adopted by loving parents, then Kira would painfully leave them where they were. He believed that Fllay, in the right state of mind, would support this action as well.

"And what child are we talking about?" asked the woman, her voice having an edge to it.

"Sebastian Connor; I was told to tell you that your cooking still needs work," Kira said, remembering Chanka's words. He figured that it was some sort of password. It seemed to work as the woman's features softened and she moved to let Kira enter the premises.

"Are you with Orb? The Doctor said that they would show up. My name is Harriet Jones and I run the orphanage," stated the lady as she led him down the hall.

Kira noted that the house truly looked like a Victorian style house on the inside as well. When he first saw the place, he thought it was just for show. The hallway was narrow and only had enough room for two people side by side. Pictures lined the walls which seemed to depict children that had lived here at one time.

"My family has run this orphanage for generations; it seems that there will always be a need for a place like this in the world," said Harriet sadly. Kira just nodded, not sure what to say.

"Are you a relative of Sebastian's? I see some of him in you," Harriet stated, taking a long look at Kira. The young man nodded. Opening the door to the backyard, Kira was greeted to the sight of a dozen children whom were engaged in various activities.

He immediately knew which child was his son. The boy was with a group of others standing around from what appeared be a table top game of some sort. Miniature figurines were all over the surface which was being used in some sort of battle.

Sebastian Connor looked like a smaller version of Kira but with Fllay's color and hairstyle. He was tall and thin, dressed in a pair of blue shorts and a white t-shirt. Kira was suddenly startled when the boy let out a wolf-like howl that filled the room and looked over at Harriet for answers.

"Sebastian and most of the other children are fans of Warhammer 40000, the table top game you see them playing. The army Sebastian plays and idolizes are the Space Wolves," explained the older woman.

"Isn't that game a little too violent for little children?" inquired Kira; he had heard of the game before and watched several tournaments in Copernicus City.

"These children need all the help they can to get them through the trauma of being orphans. If this game can bring them joy then we have no right to keep it away from them" scolded the woman.

Kira understood what the woman was saying and continued to watch as the children laughed and played.

"What is he like?" asked the young man, curious.

"Sebastian? Energetic and full of life; He defends those who cannot defend themselves and is passionate in protecting those who he sees as his precious people. He wants to be a mobile suit pilot when he grows up and fight with honor," informed elder woman.

"He's a little young to be thinking all that," observed Kira, not sure what to think.

"Well the Doctor said he was a special boy and I didn't ask why he was," said Ms. Jones with a smile.

Sebastian let out another howl and the older woman let out a small chuckle. The group of kids still had not noticed Kira's presence and was focused on their own activities. Kira almost regretted having to break up what was going on. However, time was a factor and the Coordinator needed to get to the other children.

"It will be a shame to lose Sebastian; he's made so many friends here," stated Harriet sadly, sighing "I am happy though that he will be in the company of family."

"I promise to take care of him; we'll even try to come and visit as often as we can," promised the Gundam pilot.

"Sebastian and I will hold you to that young man," said the old woman gently but firm. Kira nodded and took his first steps towards his son.

Author's Note: Sorry to leave you hanging but I was unsure where to go with the meeting. I did not want to spend a month debating what to do either.

The name Sebastian Connor is in honor of the author Storm Wolf77415 who is a major K/F fan and author. I highly recommend his fic anytime. The name was also used with his permission.

Next chapter will have Kira encounter another one of his children as well as some more Kira and Fllay interaction. Also, more details about our villains will be revealed.

The next updates will be Sins and Checkmate- expect them in about a week after the current updates are released.

Please R&R!


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Still don't own it

Disclaimer: Still don't own it.

Author's Quick Note: I want to thank all those who supported me during my little rant. I appreciated the messages I got; but I do still plan my anti-ZAFT fic which will be titled "Kira Yamato: Soldier of LOGOS". The ZAFT fanboy responded to my rant with one of his own, but the coward once again deleted his e-mail account before I could respond.

"This is stupid," muttered Shinn as he put on the brown colored uniform.

"Unless you want to be recognized the minute the Coast Guard come aboard, I suggest you shut up and get dressed," said Athrun testily as he zipped up his own uniform.

"We've been here for a week now; how much longer till we get to leave?" groaned the young man as the two made their way out of the bathroom.

"When Kira gets back with his child," answered the former ZAFT pilot.

"That still sounds weird no matter how much it is said," commented Shinn.

"Try taking it from Kira's point of view," said Athrun dryly.

"And I thought I had issues," said Shinn quietly to himself.

The two walked down the hall towards the stairs to the upper deck. Meeting them there was Lunamaria who smirked playfully at Shinn's slight discomfort. Together, the three climbed the staircase and made their way onto the deck of the ship.

The ocean air sprayed in their faces and the sky was devoid of clouds. It was early in the afternoon with the sun just making its way to the highest point in the sky.

Currently docked in the San Francisco harbor, the freighter was awaiting the routine Coast Guard patrol. While there wasn't much to be worried about, the Captain wanted to make sure that there was nothing suspicious with the ship's visit.

Though the Atlantic Federation was less Anti-Coordinator, there was still a danger in being in the nation. The Blue Cosmos were still out there and had significant presences in the major cities. San Francisco was a hotbed of Blue Cosmos activity due largely to the resentment by the lower class of the economic chart.

Even today, it took a good amount of capital to make a child a Coordinator. That fact alone was why most of the members of the Blue Cosmos still existed.

"Well let's get to it," said Athrun as he picked up a mop and started cleaning the deck. Shinn and Luna sighed and took a similar action along side the young man.

A shadow soon fell on them and all three of the Gundam pilots looked up as a trio of Strike Daggers hovered overhead. The antique MS floated there for a few minutes as they scanned the ship for any abnormalities. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, the MS moved on to the next ship.

"I don't know what's more funny, that we have to pretend we're ordinary sailors or the fact that Strike Daggers are still being used by the Atlantic Federation who is supposed to be one of the most powerful nations on the planet," Shinn stated, throwing the mop to the ground.

"From what Cagalli has told me, the AF had a surplus of Strike Daggers after the first war and assigned a great many of them to their National Guard units and the Coast Guard. This is why ZAFT was never able to get a foothold in the AF during the second war since they had the advantage of numbers on their side," informed Athrun as he watched the MS get smaller on the horizon.

"They're just Strike Daggers," scoffed the young man, not seeing the AF suits as a threat.

"Get enough Strike Daggers together and they become a serious threat; just because a suit can be an antique, doesn't mean that it isn't anymore dangerous," chastened the elder pilot.

Shinn just rolled his eyes and headed away from the duo to the inner bowels of the ship.

The ship itself was a converted freighter designed for intelligence purposes. The Athha crest was painted along the side of the hull since the ship belonged to Cagalli's family directly and not part of the regular Orb shipping fleet.

It was able to hold a couple of mobile suits without them being detected by authorities due to hidden compartment in the cargo hold. Currently, Impulse was stored along with its various accessories and a Murasame.

Cagalli had felt the need of a personal intelligence service after the fiasco with the Sierans during the second war. She wanted a second pair of eyes on the world just in case there was another attempt to oust her. The members were loyal only to her and her family.

"When do you think Kira will be back?" asked Luna.

"I got a call from him and the team this morning, they expect to be back with his child by the end of the week" answered the pilot and he stared out at the ocean.

"I still don't see why he didn't want us to go with him," stated the red-head as she leaned back against the rail.

"It's complicated," said Athrun, shaking his head, "It took a great deal just to convince him to take a team with him." In fact, Athrun had to force the issue with his friend.

Kira wanted to go alone but it took Athrun all he could just to convince the Gundam pilot that it was a very stupid thing to do. It took a threat from Athrun to tell Cagalli in order to force Kira to agree to bring a few agents along with him. Athrun had instructed the agents to watch Kira like a hawk in case he tried to lose them on purpose.

Athrun just hoped the agents were as good as Cagalli said they were; otherwise, there would be a lot of trouble. He did not want to mount a rescue mission inside Atlantic Federation territory and blow their cover.

Cagalli would kill him.

Sighing, the Gundam pilot walked away from the rail with Luna in tow. It was time to go check on Fllay.

The woman was in one of the rooms in the living quarters of the ship. Kira had decided, with a great deal of convincing from everyone else, that it was best to leave her on the ship where she could be better protected.

So far, everything had gone well; Meyrin was handling Fllay and so far there had been no problems.

Athrun hoped it would last.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Kira walked up to the orphanage, trying to look normal as possible despite being nervous as hell. He was about to meet one of his children; a six-year old child by the name of Sebastian Connor.

Across the street was the rest of the team in a large white van that had been brought over on the ship. It was specifically designed and equipped for Intelligence operations as well as a quick getaway if needed. The agents were watching just in case something happened.

Knocking, the door opened up to an old woman with short grey hair and glasses. She was dressed in a pair of white slacks and a brown sweatshirt. Her smile was pleasant and disarming, giving Kira the impression that he was dealing with a caring person.

"Can I help you young man?" asked the woman.

"I am here to recover a child if he hasn't been adopted already" said Kira nervously. His plan was to only pick up the children that had yet to be place in a new home.

After much thought, Kira wanted to make sure his and Fllay's children have a normal life as possible. If the children were already adopted by loving parents, then Kira would painfully leave them where they were. He believed that Fllay, in the right state of mind, would support this action as well.

"And what child are we talking about?" asked the woman, her voice having an edge to it.

"Sebastian Connor; I was told to tell you that your cooking still needs work," Kira said, remembering Chanka's words. He figured that it was some sort of password. It seemed to work as the woman's features softened and she moved to let Kira enter the premises.

"Are you with Orb? The Doctor said that they would show up. My name is Harriet Jones and I run the orphanage," stated the lady as she led him down the hall.

Kira noted that the house truly looked like a Victorian style house on the inside as well. When he first saw the place, he thought it was just for show. The hallway was narrow and only had enough room for two people side by side. Pictures lined the walls which seemed to depict children that had lived here at one time.

"My family has run this orphanage for generations; it seems that there will always be a need for a place like this in the world," said Harriet sadly. Kira just nodded, not sure what to say.

"Are you a relative of Sebastian's? I see some of him in you," Harriet stated, taking a long look at Kira. The young man nodded. Opening the door to the backyard, Kira was greeted to the sight of a dozen children whom were engaged in various activities.

He immediately knew which child was his son. The boy was with a group of others standing around from what appeared be a table top game of some sort. Miniature figurines were all over the surface which was being used in some sort of battle.

Sebastian Connor looked like a smaller version of Kira but with Fllay's color and hairstyle. He was tall and thin, dressed in a pair of blue shorts and a white t-shirt. Kira was suddenly startled when the boy let out a wolf-like howl that filled the room and looked over at Harriet for answers.

"Sebastian and most of the other children are fans of Warhammer 40000, the table top game you see them playing. The army Sebastian plays and idolizes are the Space Wolves," explained the older woman.

"Isn't that game a little too violent for little children?" inquired Kira; he had heard of the game before and watched several tournaments in Copernicus City.

"These children need all the help they can to get them through the trauma of being orphans. If this game can bring them joy then we have no right to keep it away from them" scolded the woman.

Kira understood what the woman was saying and continued to watch as the children laughed and played.

"What is he like?" asked the young man, curious.

"Sebastian? Energetic and full of life; He defends those who cannot defend themselves and is passionate in protecting those who he sees as his precious people. He wants to be a mobile suit pilot when he grows up and fight with honor," informed elder woman.

"He's a little young to be thinking all that," observed Kira, not sure what to think.

"Well the Doctor said he was a special boy and I didn't ask why he was," said Ms. Jones with a smile.

Sebastian let out another howl and the older woman let out a small chuckle. The group of kids still had not noticed Kira's presence and was focused on their own activities. Kira almost regretted having to break up what was going on. However, time was a factor and the Coordinator needed to get to the other children.

"It will be a shame to lose Sebastian; he's made so many friends here," stated Harriet sadly, sighing "I am happy though that he will be in the company of family."

"I promise to take care of him; we'll even try to come and visit as often as we can," promised the Gundam pilot.

"Sebastian and I will hold you to that young man," said the old woman gently but firm. Kira nodded and took his first steps towards his son.

Author's Note: Sorry to leave you hanging but I was unsure where to go with the meeting. I did not want to spend a month debating what to do either.

The name Sebastian Connor is in honor of the author Storm Wolf77415 who is a major K/F fan and author. I highly recommend his fic anytime. The name was also used with his permission.

Next chapter will have Kira encounter another one of his children as well as some more Kira and Fllay interaction. Also, more details about our villains will be revealed.

The next updates will be Sins and Checkmate- expect them in about a week after the current updates are released.

Please R&R!


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: Still don't own it

Disclaimer: Still don't own it

Shinn hated babysitting.

Watching the boy while he played with his figurines across the room, Shinn continued reading his magazine. The lounge was deserted currently and the room was quiet for the moment. Though it was large and could seat half the crew, it was messy with reading material thrown about. The tables were worn and the chairs uncomfortable. Fortunately, the couches attached to the metal walls were comfortable; though Luna commented that orange was an ugly color for the furniture. The same could be said for the orange carpet.

He had been saddled with the task when Kira took off to retrieve another one of his daughters. Luna and Meyrin had left to go shopping for supplies as well as Athrun. When Shinn expressed his desire not to attend, Luna angrily stated that he had to his part for the mission; hence his new babysitting role.

So far, Sebastian had stayed quiet and did his own thing without being a problem. This made things easier for Shinn since he did not know the first thing about babysitting kids other than his sister. It almost made him afraid because if his relationship with Luna did go farther, it might mean that she would be interested in having children.

"ZAFT sucks," said Sebastian out loud suddenly, startling Shinn who then gaped at the kid for his comment.

"Excuse me?" asked Shinn, his surprise turning onto anger.

"I said ZAFT sucks; they're nothing but a bunch of hypocrites," stated the young boy, giving Shinn a cold stare.

"ZAFT are not hypocrites; we only do what we need to do in order to protect our homeland. The Earth Alliance was the murderers, not us," said the ZAFT pilot in anger.

"The Earth Alliance were no saints but that was because of a few in the Governments that held all the power. ZAFT tried to commit genocide on two separate occasions and the population of the PLANTs did nothing to stop them," said Sebastian as he continued to lay out his Space Wolves in formation.

Shinn bit back a retort and thought about the boy's statement. He had to admit that it was somewhat right. When Zala preached the extermination of Naturals, there was very little outcry from the PLANT population except for those loyal to Clyne and they were very few in number. When Durandal was about wipe Orb off the map, ZAFT stood by and was willing to let it happen. Only the Joule team rebelled and fought to save Orb.

However, Shinn was not about to let the kid call his military murderers and went on the offensive.

"When the EA attacked the PLANTs during the 2nd War with nukes, there wasn't much outcry from the populations of the Earth Alliance," argued the ZAFT pilot.

"That was because of what happened with the drop of Junius Seven; the people were angry and demanded revenge," argued the boy back.

"And yet we now know that LOGOS arranged for that colony to drop. So that makes the EA even guiltier," said Shinn.

"But it was still carried out by rogue ZAFT soldiers; ZAFT soldiers who committed war crimes during the war such as the massacre at Panama and were never once reprimanded by the PLANT Government in the aftermath of the war. ZAFT soldiers who were allowed to roam free and acquire military equipment for their operation with no interference from ZAFT itself. And since we are on the subject, Durandal knew about the colony drop in advance and did nothing to stop it," stated Sebastian.

"What are you talking about?" asked the young man. Shinn had not ever heard that when the war was over.

"Think about it; how can Gilbert Durandal have such intimate knowledge of LOGOS in a short amount of time? You saw the announcement he made; he had so much knowledge about an organization which was supposed to be secret. That kind of intelligence does not come about quickly and happens when a good amount of time is invested; especially the part where LOGOS was connected with the colony drop. The man always knew about LOGOS as well as the colony drop in advance. He even knew the raid at Armory One was going to happen," stated the young boy with conviction.

Shinn was shocked and disturbed at the same time. The boy's statement made sense in a way that he never thought about even after the war. Shinn always believed that he became a puppet when the Destiny Plan was announced. If the Armory One and Junius Seven was known ahead of time by Durandal and the ZAFT leadership, then they were just as guilty as LOGOS.

The ZAFT pilot was also disturbed that he was being lectured to by a young boy who seemed far more mature than what he should be at his age. Shinn knew that the boy was special, but this was a little over the top. He suddenly cringed at the thought of what the boy's grades would be at the academy if he attended.

"So you're saying that ZAFT sucks because of Durandal and Zala, but the EA is cool because of the actions of a few?" Shinn asked with skepticism.

"I did not say the EA was cool but that ZAFT cannot claim that they are more benign than the Alliance. ZAFT sucks because all through the war, they claimed to be fighting for the people. All they were doing was making things easier for Durandal to initiate his Destiny Plan," said Sebastian.

"And the "actions of a few" statement?" inquired the ZAFT pilot.

"The Earth Alliance is made up of a group of nations; nations governed by democratic systems. The Atlantic Federation is a democracy that in times can be ruled though a minority. The Blue Cosmos are not made up of the entire AF but are in control of key positions within the Government. That's what happens in Democracies; it sucks but that is the case. During the two wars, that Blue Cosmos Minority controlled the EA because of ZAFT's actions," informed the young boy.

"But the EA started the first war, not ZAFT," protested Shinn.

"Junius Seven was nuked by Blue Cosmos fanatics, not the Earth Alliance itself. When ZAFT dropped its neutron jammers, millions of Naturals suffered and died because of what a few did. ZAFT let its anger cloud its judgment and the Blue Cosmos rallied the people because of it. Thus the minority were able to control the majority through fear because of what ZAFT did."

"What are you, some sort of philosopher?" asked Shinn. He hated to admit it but the boy's arguments made sense.

"I haven't decided yet," said Sebastian as he rolled a dice and moved one of the Space Wolves forward.

"So, if you were old enough, who would you have fought for?" the Gundam pilot asked.

"The Earth Alliance; someone has to clean up the trash within its house," stated Sebastian with a smirk. Shinn, not sure what the boy meant, decided not to let the matter drop; his head was starting to hurt with all the thinking involved in the conversation.

"How do you play this game? I've seen it only a few times in the PLANTs when I was at the academy," said Shinn as he sat down at the table where Sebastian was playing.

"I'll show you; you are the Orks and I'll be the Space Wolves," said Sebastian with a grin.

For the next hour, the two continued to play and Shinn enjoyed the feeling of being a kid again. It was then that he realized that he wasted time on being a soldier because of his hatred and desire for vengeance.

It made him wonder where he would be if his life had been different.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"Thank you for all the clothes," said Molly as she and Kira headed to the Freighter.

"Your welcome," said Kira and he groaned at all the weight he was carrying. He never though clothes could be so heavy.

Molly seemed like a miniature version of Fllay with a mix of Cagalli thrown in. Though she looked a lot like Fllay in regard to her face, she had short blond hair just like Cagalli's. It was almost a little disturbing seeing how different the women were.

Molly was currently dressed in a new pink dress that Kira had bought her when he picked her up from the place where Chanka positioned her in. Though it was technically an orphanage, it seemed more like a boarding school for girls. Unlike with Sebastian though, getting her out took a little more pull and it had come down to a DNA test to prove that the girl was related to him.

The girl, who Kira felt intimidated around, demanded that she be treated like a princess and saw fit to order Kira about as if her were a servant. She immediately demanded that he take her shopping since her wardrobe would have taken to long to pack and bring with her.

Kira had refused at first. He needed to get to the other children as soon as possible and could not waste time on a shopping trip. However, he conceded to the girl's demands when she gave him a look that came out of the past; a pout face that Fllay had used on him when they were together.

Not even Cagalli could be a match for that.

Molly, in a single hour, had spent every credit that Kira had on him. She had purchased everything from shoes to dresses and was on her way to bathing suits when Kira had finally put his foot down. He had to remind her that she was still very young and that he was out of money.

Molly had huffed but conceded.

As they boarded the ship, Molly looked about and did not seem impressed by what she was going to travel on.

"Why are we traveling on this piece of junk?" asked the young girl with disgust, angering the sailors around them.

"Because it is more convenient," Kira answered, ushering the girl inside as quickly as possible so that no one else would get angry.

As soon as the two entered the lounge, Kira dropped the bags of clothing and went to sit down. Athrun and the rest of the group were already there and Luna smirked at Kira as he rested after carrying all the clothing.

"Princess?" said Sebastian, standing up and staring at the newcomer in surprise.

"Sebastian?" Molly exclaimed, surprised as well. The two ran at each other and hugged. It was a touching scene to all who watched.

"What are you doing here sister?" asked Sebastian.

"This man brought me; he said that he was going to bring me to momma," answered Molly.

"He said that to me as well," said Sebastian, looking over at Kira.

"I miss her; we can do each others hair like we used to," stated Molly happily.

As the two kids chatted away, Athrun walked over to the couch and looked down at his friend who seemed exhausted.

"She wear you out?" asked the Orb General with a smirk as he looked at all the shopping bags.

"This is going to be harder than I thought," admitted Kira as he yawned.

"At least they are happy," observed Athrun as the two kids continued to talk. Molly was criticizing Sebastian's clothing while he stood there and just shrugged.

"Yeah; I'll let Fllay see them in a few minutes. Maybe this will cheer her up," stated the young man with hope.

Athrun just nodded and did not bring up that Lacus had called while Kira had been gone. It seemed that she knew the situation and wanted to talk to Kira about it. He did not know what she was going to say but knew that it could make things complicated.

Fortunately, he was wrong.

Author's Note. First off, I am sorry that the quality of this chapter is a little down in relation to the past chapters of this fic. But my health has not been all that great due to the smoke in the air because of the wildfires here in California. You know it's bad when you can't tell the difference between cloud cover and smoke in the air.

Secondly, I recently came in contact with a group of fanatical Gilbert Durandal Fanboys. And yes, they DO exist. These fanboys, though entitled to their opinions, are more extreme in their beliefs that Gil was the true hero of the series and that Lacus was the one who ruined the CE's best chance for peace.

Personally, I think this is a pile of crap.

So this is one of the reasons for the conversation between Shinn and Sebastian; A way for me to remind people why Gil was one of the villains of the series. I also want to make it clear of my feelings for ZAFT. They are not the villains for this fic, but that is still my opinion. I hope I did not offend too many of my fans.

Also, keep in mind that the Sebastian in this fic is not the same as the character I used in honor of. They are similar, but separate as well. You will be given more of his views in later chapters.

On a side note- I happen to be a Centrist so don't take me for being on either side of the Political Spectrum. The statement about Political control works for both sides of politics.

I have no clue when the next update will be out. I plan on updating a few fics ahead of this so I cannot give an accurate timeline. I just hope you can be patient with me. The next chapter will feature a family moment between Fllay, Kira, and their children.

Please R&R!


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: Still don't own Gundam Seed Destiny

Fllay looked uneasy.

At least that was what Kira thought as he watched her with the children. While she was full of smiles and laughs, there was something about her demeanor that looked odd to the young man. There was a twitching that she kept doing with her hand when Fllay thought no one was looking; Kira would have missed it himself if his coordinator senses hadn't kicked in.

Molly and Sebastian were ecstatic to see their mother again; they ran to her bedside immediately and hugged the redhead. Fllay reacted with almost equal mirth and tried to rise from her bed to embrace her children. The children though seemed to know about their mother's condition and made sure that she did not strain herself by joining her on the bed.

Fllay was dressed in a simple pair of clothing consisting of a pair white pants and t-shirt. Her long red hair was currently tied in a pony tail which Molly ogled over; she then tried to match her mother's look by grabbing a hair tie from her dress pocket. Sebastian just rolled his eyes and sat next to his mother while Molly did her thing.

Kira laughed silently to himself, making sure not to ruin the moment. Standing at the doorway, he was looking in at the family gathering. He knew he was not ready to be in there just yet and opted to stay where he was. Hopefully once all the children were gathered, he would have the courage to do what he longed to do.

"They look happy," Athrun said as he silently made his way to Kira's side and peered thru the doorway.

"Yeah; did you get a hold of Cagalli?' asked the Ultimate Coordinator.

"I did; I let her know that we are heading to the next city. I have also rented us a car that we can use to travel to Texas," informed the friend.

"Think it is wise to leave Fllay, Molly, and Sebastian here by themselves? I almost want to bring all three with us," stated Kira as he glanced back at the gathering inside.

"A Family vacation of some sorts? I don't believe that's a good idea; Fllay is in no condition to travel and something might happen. They'll be safe here with Shinn, Luna, and Meyrin," said Athrun.

"I guess you are right; did you procure the means to get onto the base where Kevin Labot is staying?" asked the pilot of the strike Freedom.

The Third Child was named Kevin Labot and according to Chanka, he was a major military enthusiast. All the young kid could talk about was about he was going to pilot a mobile suit when he grew up. Out of all the children, Kevin had the best reflexes of the lot as well as a knack for being a good shot. He was also good at obeying what Fllay and Chanka told him to do.

Kira did not know what to make of this; he believed that no child should want to become a soldier. He understood the need to serve in order to protect one's family and nation, but so far it seemed that Kevin was the perfect soldier. There was a small degree of anger that Kira felt, but it was muddled with confusion than anything else.

"Yeah and it was not easy. Orb's intelligence network could only go so far and I had to call in a few favors with ZAFT's network. We are going in posing as FSA in order to get onto the base and from what I understand; they are pretty feared within the Atlantic Federation," explained the Orb Admiral.

"Weren't a lot of them members of the Blue Cosmos? I don't think many will believe that we would be with the FSA since we are Coordinators" asked Kira.

"From what I understand, the new Atlantic Federation Government has opened the door for Coordinators to join any branch of its Government and many are flocking in out of patriotism; that goes especially with the FSA," answered the Gundam pilot.

"That's good; anything else I should know?" asked the Ultimate Coordinator as he watched Molly show Fllay her new necklace that Kira bought her. The necklace, which cost Kira a small fortune, had a heart-shaped silver pendant on a gold string.

"I talked to Lacus; you haven't talk to her once since this all started," Athrun said with a frown.

"I was meaning to but…….," was all Kira could say.

The issue of Lacus had been hanging on his mind for some time now and Kira had no clear idea how to resolve it. He could not deny that he still had feelings for the former songstress but his current concern for Fllay was overriding that at the moment. The young man knew he had to talk to Lacus at some point but just could not bring himself to do so.

"You need to talk to her. I don't know how but it seems that she already knows what's going on," stated Athrun.

"She is the leader of the PLANTs so I guess I should not be surprised. How did she look?" asked the pilot.

"Well but very worried for you; from talking to her, I get the impression that she does understand. However like I said, you really need to talk to her," the Coordinator expressed to his friend.

"When all the children have been gathered, I'll contact her. Until then, I need to focus on this," Kira said with conviction. Athrun nodded with understanding.

"Think the children are hungry?" asked Athrun.

"I'll go ask," said Kira. Mustering up the courage, he walked into the room.

As he entered the room, all three of the occupants turned their eyes on him. While the children looked happy to see him, Fllay looked apprehensive and Kira felt a slight tinge of fear but suppressed it. He took a few more steps towards the trio, smiling while doing so.

"Are you guy's hungry? I am sure Luna and Meyrin are back with something to eat," Kira asked.

"Can we eat with momma?" asked Sebastian. Both children looked at Kira with sweet innocent demeanors which seemed to polarize the young man.

"Sure; we could even all have lunch here," suggested the young man.

The children looked at one another then at their mother. While Fllay looked really apprehensive, she nodded her approval in which caused the kids to nod at Kira in return. The young man then left the room to get something to eat with Athrun in tow. After they were gone, Sebastian got off the bed and went to shut the door.

"Momma; why does that man make you scared?" asked Molly to her mother.

"He doesn't scare me darling; but there are some issues between us that need to be resolved in time," Fllay said to her two children.

Unknown to everyone including Chanka, Fllay was more coherent than she let on. While most of her memories were blurred, there were more than a few that really stood out and mostly dealt with Kira. She wanted to talk to him about it more than anything, but instinct was telling her to play dumb for now. At least until all of her children were with her and safe.

Fllay also knew her children would keep her secret. They were all connected in ways that even Chanka did not realize. While he had not been cruel with her and the children; she still could not trust him especially since he was a scientist first and a human being second. While she had understood his decision for what happened with Stellar, there was a part of her that could never forgive him for it.

Ever; it was because of him that Kira had killed his own daughter.

For now she would use all of her abilities to make her own plans. Somehow Fllay knew that whoever was after Chanka was really after her. While her children were very special, she also knew that she still surpassed them. They were still in danger though and she would everything possible to protect them.

No matter what.

Kira returned with four plates of what looked like spaghetti. During her moments of fazing out, Fllay had learned that the Hawke sisters were attempting to learn how to cook. While she was flattered that they would go to all the trouble for her and her children, their culinary skills were a little lacking. If her secret were to get out, she would have to teach the sisters a few tricks.

Before they killed someone.

* * *

Cagalli hated politics.

It was the one area she hated the most in running a nation. She even hated it far more than all the paperwork that piled on her desk every day. No matter the situation, it was slimy and made her feel dirty all over. However, what Cagalli really hated the most was that it was a necessary evil that had to be mastered. She was taught that lesson in dealing with the Seirans in the last war.

When she had been contacted by the President of the Atlantic Federation for a private meeting with her and Lacus, Cagalli knew that something was up. Usually such meetings were planned way in advance and going thru their respective ambassadors first. This meeting was set up in a hurry and secretly held in a secured location within Orb.

Something was definitely up.

Contrary to what a lot of people both in Orb and the PLANTs hoped, the Atlantic Federation was still one of the top powers in the Earth Sphere. While the other EA member states were dealing political and economic fallout for the last war, the Atlantic Federation had bounced back pretty well. They were still a force to recon with, especially in the terms of military strength.

It really did not surprise Cagalli though. As Lacus pointed out in their private sessions, the AF had a far more centralized Government as well as a major industrial base. The fact that it encompassed a whole continent and could tap into a wide range of resources proved that even the nastiest of wars could not keep it down. So when it came to keeping peace in the Earth Sphere, Orb and the PLANTs had to deal with the terrestrial nation on just about anything.

Currently, the three leaders were sitting at a large wooden table in a small windowless room that happened to be the basement of one of Orb's safehouses. Each leader had a bodyguard with them; Andrew with Lacus and Kisaka with Cagalli. President Jackson had a tall Caucasian male with a back suit next to him.

The Atlantic Federation President was just recently elected and the two women had yet to really interact with him. Standing at six feet and dressed in a blue suit, he was bald and had blue eyes. He appeared to be in his early forties and had been a General in the military before going into politics. It was rumored that one of his parents had been a Coordinator but no one had yet to confirm that.

"So may I ask why we needed to meet in this way?" asked Lacus in a polite and friendly matter. It was agreed that she would do most of the talking.

"Yes I apologize for the unusual meeting but some things have come up that need to be addressed immediately. This is Colonel Dan Sheppard, the head of Third Echelon," said the AF President while gesturing to the man next to him.

Both women noticed how their bodyguard stiffened up at the name and Cagalli herself felt a little apprehensive. From what was reported to her by her intelligence head, Third Echelon had been responsible for the brutal removal of all Blue Cosmos members within the Atlantic Federation Government. It was reported that car bombs and other assassination methods were used. Though it had been effective, one could not deny the viciousness of it.

"Recently, we have received information that an alliance had been established by a remnant of LOGOS and a group of former ZAFT soldiers," stated the Colonel.

"I though all of LOGOS had been wiped out by Durandal; the group captured at Heavens Base were executed for crime against humanity as well as Djibril being killed on the moon," said Andrew.

"From what we can tell, Durandal missed one and he/she has been quite active lately. We have evidence of a transfer of funds going to a dummy corporation once used by LOGOS to a Commander Stevens; I am sure you recognize the name?" Sheppard asked neutrally.

Everyone nodded and the two bodyguards exchanged glances. After the Battle of MESSIAH, two hundred FAITH members had vanished from the PLANTs; taking their mobile suits with them. Appointed by Gilbert Durandal, the force had been more loyal to the deceased Chairman than to the PLANT Council itself. Finding them had been a top priority for ZAFT seeing how they could cause problems for the new peace in the Earth sphere.

"Why would this group team up with a LOGOS member?" asked Lacus, confused by the strange alliance.

"We don't know; the only other Intel we have come up with is something to do with a scientist named Chanka. Apparently this ex-LOGOS member wants him for something," informed the head of Third Echelon.

That startled Cagalli and she tried not to show it. It seemed that the issue with Chanka and Fllay was far bigger than originally thought. She had to get word to Kira and the group first chance she got; especially since things were getting far more complicated.

"I agree that this is a major problem; what do you propose we do about it?" asked Lacus in a serious tone.

"I would suggest that we pull our resources together and deal with this growing threat; obviously we can't risk tipping off our enemies so I suggest using the military exchange program as a front," suggested the AF President.

Both Girls tuned in.

Author's Note: Been a long time huh?

A great many of things have come into play in preventing my updates in all of my fics; something which I will now rectify. I am back so be prepared for more updates in the very near future for my fics. The next updates should be with Checkmate and my 2 Code Geass Fics; hopefully by the end of next week. GSD Homeworld and Sins will follow after that.

A huge Thanks to an author by the name of RedCrimson for the support and enthusiasm in getting me to update; this chapter would not have happened this soon without him. Also sorry for the lack of editing if it needs it, wanted to really get this one out on Christmas. Next one will be better written.

Next chapter will deal with out Villains and the next child; not sure on a date by the end of next month at the latest.

Please R&R and Merry Christmas!


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: Still don't own it

"YOU WANT ME TO DO WHAT!" screamed Yzak, staring at his mother.

"Don't you raise your tone with me!" snapped the woman, causing her son to flinch; Ezalia Joule rarely yelled at her son but when she did, it shook the young man to the core.

The two were currently in Ezalia's office in the PLANT Supreme Council building at Aprilius One. While Yzak was standing, his mother was seated at her desk. The woman was dressed in her council uniform while Yzak was in his white uniform. The two were currently alone in the room.

"I am sorry mother, but what you are asking me is just insane," stated the ZAFT Commander, shaking his head in disbelief.

"The war has been over for a while now and this is necessary to maintain the peace," Ezalia said in a neutral tone.

"Why me though? And why a soldier from that particular family?" Yzak asked, plopping down on the chair in front his mother's desk.

"Because the Minerva is going to be assigned a very important mission soon that the Atlantic Federation is going to be a part of and it is better to place their representative with your team now instead of later; a way to make sure he fits in properly. As for his family, the Azrael family is rather large and not all of them are members of the Blue Cosmos," informed the older woman.

Yzak rubbed his eyes in frustration and sighed. This was not going to be easy and he knew that there was a lot of work ahead of him. The name Azreal was synonymous with the name Satan in the PLANTs; caused by the nuking of Boaz in the first war as well as the failed nuclear attack on the PLANTs themselves. Having someone from the Azreal family aboard a ZAFT ship was going to be trouble; Yzak wondered if he could keep the soldier alive.

"Look, I am not a fan of doing this either and I made my objections very clear to Chairwoman Clyne. However, I see her point on trying to keep the peace between our two nations," stated the council member with a frown.

"You do?" asked the ZAFT Commander, surprised by his mother's attitude. It was her full support of the war against the Earth Alliance that made her a banshee on the PLANT Supreme Council.

After Erica Simmon's coup at the end of the first war between the Earth and the PLANTs, Ezalia Joule had been imprisoned by the Council because of her support in Patrick Zala's plan to use GENISIS on the Earth. The woman had been confined to her estate in Martius City under house arrest. She spent three years in confinement, all the while writing her autobiography which was released during the second war; something that made her even wealthier than she already was. When Lacus took control of the Council in CE 74, she has asked Ezalia to retake her position in an attempt to help bring about a new age of PLANT harmony.

So far it was working, though the Coalition Government was still a little shaky.

"Have you seen the latest population figures?" asked the woman, her face grim.

"No; been too busy with my new command," answered her son, shaking his head.

"Less and less children are being born each year; those who are born are incapable of producing children themselves. The two wars have consumed many of our young that might have been able to breed and no genetic solution has been found despite the billions that have been put into researching the solution. Truth be told, the PLANTs cannot afford another war because the sacrifice would be just too high," informed Ezalia, rubbing her temples.

"I didn't realize things were that bad," stated Yzak, shocked by his mother's words. The problems in relation to population and breeding was well known, but never spoken of out loud.

"They are; we have been able to keep things quiet about it so far but words bound to get out eventually. Luckily though, with relations between Earth and the PLANTs better than its been in the past, we are starting to get immigrants that will help things a bit," explained the woman.

"I see; what about the Ultimate Coordinator project? Didn't I hear that research into it started back up?" asked the ZAFT Commander.

"Yes, but turns out that even Ultimates are not immune to the effects of birthrates; if Kira Yamato had managed to raise a child with Lacus, that child would have a 99% probability of being sterile," the council member said.

"Are we sure about that?" asked Yzak.

"Yes; we have bits of Hibiki's research which confirmed it," answered Ezalia.

"Great; so when does this Atlantic Federation pilot supposed to get here?" asked the young man.

"He is already here; the man arrived this morning and is currently at the Atlantic Federation Embassy waiting for you," answered his mother.

"That fast? Why wasn't I told of this earlier?" growled Commander angrily.

"Because with all that's going on, there wasn't time to be idle about it. Plus if you answered your communicator a bit more, it would have given you a bit more time," growled the woman back.

"Its Dearka's fault; he was drunk again and thought he saw that Natural girl that dumped him a couple of years back. I had to get him out of the brig and sober him up," explained Yzak; he left out the part where the blond had thrown up all over his white uniform.

"He reminds me of his father when he was dating Dearka's mother; it was quite an entertaining courtship if I recall," said Ezalia, chuckling.

"Heh; so what's this guys name anyways?" asked the ZAFT Commander, going back to the matter at hand.

"Captain Constantine Azreal of the Atlantic Federation Army; from what I understand, he is a veteran of both wars," informed the woman.

"I see; at least he is a real soldier. And you say that the embassy is expecting me?" asked Yzak.

"Yes," answered Ezalia, handing the young man his orders.

"Well, I guess I'll go get him and take him to the Minerva," stated the young man, standing up. Giving his mother a hug and saying his goodbyes, Yzak walked out of the office.

Leaving the PLANT Supreme Council building, Yzak walked to his car that was waiting for him in the parking lot. The young man had come alone from the Minerva, leaving any escort that would have normally accompanied him. Now he had wished that he had brought an escort since he had no clue what this soldier he was picking up was like.

The North Atlantic Federation embassy was located at the old Zala Estate with in Aprilius One. Lacus had donated the building to the nation after relations were reestablished following the new peace treaty signed at Orb. The Federation had also done a similar move by donating one of Djibril's former estates just outside Washington D.C.; it was an attempt to show mutual respect between the two nations by turning the residences of radicals into buildings of peace.

Yzak pulled up to the Embassy twenty minutes after leaving the Council building, stopping his car a the security gate. A young Federation soldier with an assault rifle slung on his right shoulder walked out of the small security building at the side of the gate up to the driver's side window in which Yzak rolled down. The man's face was blank but did not seem hostile.

"Can I help you sir?" asked the soldier politely.

"Commander Yzak Joule here to escort Captain Azrael to the Minerva," stated the ZAFT Commander, showing the Federation soldier his identification. The young man looked it over and then turned his head to the station, giving a nod to the second man in the small building. The gate then opened up and Yzak headed inside.

The old Zala estate had been surrounded by a ten foot cement wall. Inside the barrier was vast fields with all the buildings located in the center; there was a paved duel lane road that ran to the inner core of the estate. The Embassy appeared not to have changed the layout so it was easier for Yzak to find his way.

Along the way, Yzak saw a large group of soldiers, marines by the appearance their fatigues, doing combat training. He knew that the Embassy sported a small protection force and it seemed that they still kept themselves prepared; the Embassy was not that popular due to old resentments and it wasn't surprising that the Federation would keep a strong military presence.

As he approached the main building, a thirty room mansion where the Zala family once lived, he saw a young man sitting on the front steps with a duffel bag at his side. The young man was tall, had very short black hair, and hazel eyes. Caucasian, he wore a black uniform with a black hat. As Yzak got closer, the man stood up.

"This keeps getting better and better," said Yzak with a frown as the young man walked over to the passenger side of the vehicle and opened the side door once it was stopped. Getting inside and throwing his duffel bag in the backseat, he extended his hand.

"Captain Azrael, Phantom Pain," said the young man. Yzak gave a very obvious fake smile and took the man's hand.

"Commander Yzak Joule," said Yzak, turning the car around and heading away from the mansion.

"I know; I recognized you from the old briefing files from the last war. What was up with the frown just now?" asked Constantine, curious. He was polite so far and even friendly.

"The fact that you are from Phantom Pain," Yzak stated.

"Ahh….I see; well I am not Blue Cosmos if that's what you are worried about," the young man said. The vehicle exited the embassy grounds and headed towards the spaceport.

"Meh," was all Yzak said. Constantine just rolled his eyes as the car rolled on in silence.

Getting into the spaceport proved not to be a hassle then Yzak originally thought. Though they got glares going in, the vehicle was waved through and soon found itself where the Minerva was docked. Yzak had a nagging suspicion that the divine hand of his mother and Chairwoman Clyne was at work somehow.

The Minerva was given to Yzak shortly after the new PLANT Government was formed. It had been salvaged from the moon and rebuilt, many of the old crew also staying aboard as well. Trine was now the Captain of the ship and served under Yzak and the man seemed to be doing a good job so far; however there was still much work to be done.

Standing at the plank connecting the dry dock to the massive ship was Shiho Hahnenfuss; Yzak's subordinate and second in command of the Joule Team. Dressed in her red elite uniform, she watched as Yzak and Captain Azrael got out of the car and approached her. Yzak noted that her eyes never left his companion and even seemed to have a glare on her face.

"What's Dearka's status?" asked the ZAFT Commander, causing the young woman to look at him.

"Awake and puking his guts out," answered Shiho with a smirk; she then turned her eyes back to the Phantom Pain soldier.

"I see; this is Captain Constantine Azrael of the Atlantic Federation. As part of a new plan to bring our two nations together, he is to be assigned to our team. Captain Azreal, this is Pilot Shiho Hahnenfuss, my second in command," informed Yzak.

"Pleasure to meet you," Captain Azrael said, extending his hand. Shiho took it and slightly smiled at him.

"You're Phantom Pain," stated the young woman, looking at his uniform.

"And? Look, Phantom Pain has long been purged of any Blue Cosmos; also I know my family is well known here, especially with my second cousin nearly wiping you all out, but I am not him. If it makes you feel better, technically I am a Coordinator," said Constantine seriously; causing both ZAFT soldiers to raise their eyebrows.

"You're kidding me," said Yzak in disbelief.

"No I am not; according the PLANT law, a I am technically a Coordinator even though only one of my genes was altered; though due to an illness that ran in the family. Even my cousin had some altered genes; we all do," informed the Captain.

"That is funny," said the ZAFT Commander, appreciating the irony of the words.

"Am I to understand that the strange mobile suit that was delivered earlier was yours?" asked Shiho, causing Yzak to look at the Captain in puzzlement.

"The RGM-89 Jegan; yes its mine," confirmed the young man.

"I wasn't told about this; and what's a Jegan?" asked the silver-haired Commander.

"It's a new mass produced mobile suit rolling out this year to replace the Windam," answered Constantine with a smile.

"Hadn't heard about that," Yzak stated; he made an effort to read any intelligence reports about new Earth mobile suits.

"Kept it hush hush for security reasons. I look forward to showing it to you," said the Captain with a predatory smirk.

"I bet you do," said the ZAFT Commander with a smirk of his own.

Shiho just rolled her eyes.

…..

"Those idiots are going to do what?" asked Nelson, glaring at the man in front of him.

"They plan to make an attack on the Minerva during their training mission," informed Miles Fren, his secretary, in a neutral tone.

"Those fools are going to ruin everything I have planned," said the businessman as he sat down and laid his head on his clasped hands.

Currently in an underground bunker just outside Jakarta, the former LOGOS member was spending the afternoon going over the latest on the search for Chanka and the girl. Hew knew that the doctor had fallen into Orb's hands as well as Fllay Allster, but his agents did not seem to be able to locate where. The island nation was doing a very good job of keeping their location secret.

"Do we know when the Minerva is supposed to launch?" asked Nelson from his seat, motioning the man to take the chair from the opposite side of the desk.

The small office did not have that much in it. The walls were plain grey and bare, the floor being a blue carpet. All the office had was a wooden desk, a built in screen on the right side wall, and a small computer on the desk as well as two chairs. The bunker, which they were in, once belonged to LOGOS as a surveillance base for Carpentaria.

"A week from now, according to our agents in the PLANTs; also, from what we have learned, there is a member of the Atlantic Federation military aboard as part of a new exchange program between the two nations," informed the man. The secretary was a young man in his twenties with blond hair and green eyes. Like Nelson, he was in a grey business suit.

"I had heard something like that being planned; who is the soldier?" asked the former LOGOS member.

"Captain Constantine Azreal of Phantom Pain," answered Miles, looking down at the report in his hands.

"That's a surprise," said Nelson, sincerely astonished.

"You know him?" asked the secretary, curious.

"No, but I have heard him mentioned; he's from the moderate side of the Azrael Family and supposed to be a major stockholder in the Azrael Conglomerate. I also understand that he is quite the mobile suit pilot," stated the older man.

"Then FAITH might not find it so easy to take the Minerva down then," Miles said.

"All I know is that those morons will ruin everything if I don't find a way to quiet them down. We may have to deal with our allies sooner than we thought," Nelson stated with a frown.

"The Virgos?" asked the secretary.

"We do need to test them; but I still need FAITH for the resources that we lack right now," informed the business man.

"Also we need them to acquire the girl for "IT"," said Miles with his face grim.

"Indeed; at least we have all what we need from the DSSD. At least FAITH was competent in that," Nelson said with a smirk.

"Maybe we can use this as an opportunity," Miles said, having a thought.

"Explain," ordered his superior.

"We do know that Orb, the PLANTs, and the Atlantic Federation are conducting a joint investigation based on Chanka and his research. We could use FAITH to distract them and allow us to do what we need to do in regards to the girl," explained the young man.

"I see where you are going; mistakes are always made during crises and we have enough agents in all three nations to listen in case the girl is mentioned. We just have to make sure that FAITH does not do too much damage," Nelson stated. His secretary nodded in agreement.

"So we intervene when necessary with the Virgos?" asked the young man.

"Yes; to make sure neither side wipes the other out completely," the older man said.

"Understood; I'll relay the orders. Might I suggest we use the debris belt as a frontline base so it's harder to be traced?" asked the secretary.

"Good idea; also make sure that the base has a explosives in case we need to hide the evidence as well as sabotaging the escape pods. I want no survivors from our men in case we are compromised," ordered Nelson.

"Yes sir," Miles said, leaving the office to make the preparations.

Nelson watched the man leave and made a mental note to keep a closer watch on the young secretary. Though Miles was incredibly useful, he was getting too smart and that made Nelson nervous. The former LOGOS member was incredibly paranoid and did not want to be a in position where he might be betrayed by a subordinate. Its how he survived this long.

Lying back in his chair, he wondered how Miles should die.

**Author's note: This chapter went through a lot of revisions before its release. I had planned to include FAITH as well but decided against it since Nelson is a far more complex villain than a bunch of radicals planning to establish the Destiny Plan thru simple violence. **

**I also wanted to establish my OC for the fic who will become quite invaluable to Kira&Co. I am a firm believer that a person cannot be judged by his/her family. So that's why I opted for an Azreal as my OC and be a hero; something original for a change of pace.**

**The Jegan is from UC Gundam and one of my favorite mass produced suits besides the Windam and the Union Flag. That is why I wanted it in this fic since I believe it's a cool suit.**

**Next chapter will go back to out heroes as the last child is gathered; also more Fllay/Kira time. Until then**

**Also, it has been brought to my attention that several of you have flamed Dragoon Swordsman on my behalf. While I am flattered, I ask that you do not do this since me and Dragoon get along quite well and respect eachother as authors despite out differences in writing style. Please do not flame him of his brother Solid, all it does is create problems; for the record they condemn those who flame me as well.**

**Please R&R!**


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: Still don't own Gundam Seed Destiny

Cagalli walked down the hall, returning the salutes of the soldiers as she passed.

As she headed towards Chanka's room, she still burned because of her meeting with Parliament.

They were not happy of her decision to allow Atlantic Federation military forces on Orb for the duration of the crisis. It was something that she herself was hesitant to do for obvious reasons. There were still bitter memories of what happened last time Federation forces touched Orb soil.

She had lost her adopted father after all.

However, it was decided that Orb would lead the coalition force based on past experiences in leading different military groups. There was also the fact that her nation had been attacked by both ZAFT and the Federation in the last two wars; making the situation impartial in a sense. Though her best friend ran the PLANTs, there was still some animosity towards ZAFT by the Orb military.

The AF contingent would arrive in a few hours and be stationed on Onogoro Island. It was still being decided if the unit would be allowed to visit any of the civilian areas since they were Phantom Pain; it was only on word alone that the contingent was not made up of members of the Blue Cosmos. The young woman had no intention of letting them on her nation ever again.

Incidentally, Third Echelon already knew that Chanka was in Orb's possession. Apparently they had known for some time and were even willing to let her nation continue to hold him. Cagalli suspected that they were up to something since the scientist was still a valuable asset. From the research she had gathered, he had been a major player in the labs run by LOGOS.

It was because of that fact that the young woman was going to pay him a visit.

Cagalli had only met him once since he had arrived and opted to stay away from him. From the details that were given to her by both Kira and the various reports about the man, she had reasons to be wary of him. Scientists disturbed her to some degree, especially those with backgrounds in genetics.

The Destiny Plan had been thought up by scientists as well as her own father. There was no telling what kind of things could be dreamed up by them.

Chanka's cell was located deep underground near the main production plant. It was heavily guarded and protected by a platoon of handpicked soldiers; Kisaka had been involved in that so the young woman had very little to worry about in terms of potential security leaks. Though it was believed that Orb was clear of any former agents of any foreign power, it did not hurt to be extra cautious.

Approaching the room, the two guards armed with heavy assault rifles saluted and she made her way inside the room.

Chanka's room was fairly big and had been originally constructed as a storage room for heavy munitions. It was long and rectangular on the inside, its walls being plain concrete. When it had been converted for the elder scientist as a living space, a bathroom and been installed as well as furnishings to make Chanka somewhat comfortable. A computer had been setup but was heavily monitored in case of attempted contact to the outside. There were also plenty of security cameras all over the room.

So far, the scientist was working on the data dealing with Fllay and her children. Hopefully it would help with her condition as well as determine who wanted the red-head and why.

When Cagalli entered the room, she found Chanka dressed in a simple pair of light brown shorts, a Polynesian shirt, and a pair of white sandals. While the room was not cold, it was hardly warm and with the scientist being a natural, she wondered how he could stand it. However, from the looks of it, he seemed quite comfortable and was working on the small computer on his metal desk.

Smiling at her when he looked up, the older man greeted her in a cheery voice "Good afternoon Representative Athha; it is nice to finally meet you."

"Thank you; I am sorry I could not visit you," stated the Orb leader with a smile but lying at the same time.

"Really? From what I could tell, you seemed to be avoiding me," Chanka said, stopping his work and leaning back in his chair.

"What gives you that impression?" asked Cagalli with a frown as she just stood there.

"Your demeanor and the fact that I am good at detecting lies; do you have an issue with me?" asked the scientist, giving the young leader his full attention.

Cagalli took a seat on the chair in front of the desk and dropped her pleasant demeanor. It seemed that honesty was the way to go.

"Yes I do; I have been going over your history and work and am bothered by it," stated the young woman with a frown.

"I can see why you would; I must admit that there are times when I myself am bothered by what I have done. But I persevere knowing that a great good will come of it," remarked Chanka with conviction in his voice.

"Good? What good? What you are doing is immoral," Cagalli said, upset at the man's words.

"I think I need to explain; what do you think of Coordinators?" asked the scientist.

"What do you mean?" asked a confused Cagalli.

"It is a simple question; what do you think of Coordinators? Specifically the idea of them," asked the scientist again but being more specific.

"That they are people just as we are," simply said Cagalli.

"But they are not; they are born genetically modified thus a danger to humanity," stated the man with a frown.

"Excuse me?" said the young woman with anger rising in her voice.

"I am not talking about the trash that members of the Blue Cosmos banter about but a danger to the evolution of the human race," explained Chanka leaning forward.

"What do you mean by evolution?" asked the Orb leader, her curiosity perked.

"By relying on genetic modifying, mankind risks the chance of not being able to evolve naturally. We have seen the effects of trying to alter the effects of nature many times in the past and thus need to halt the spread of genetic manipulation before it is too late," stated the scientist with sincerity.

"But we have eliminated diseases that way; also Coordinators are a benefit to society," argues Cagalli, not swayed by his analysis.

"But look at the costs for Coordinators; experts both on Earth and the PLANTs agree that naturally born Coordinators are decreasing in population due to sterility. Every plan to curb that has failed and it is looking very unlikely that the problem will be solved. The latest analysis states that Coordinators will be completely unable to reproduce in ten years."

"My brother was able to have children," countered the young woman.

"With a Natural though and not a Coordinator. The data on the Ultimate Coordinator Project reports the possible probability that the child of two Ultimates will be unable to reproduce. Since your brother is the only known success, we could never be truly sure," stated the elder man.

"Okay; but how does this justify to what you did to Fllay?" asked Cagalli, conceding that the scientist had made a successful argument despite her lingering doubts.

"I take no pleasure in experimenting on her and the children; I like to think that what I did has given her more of a chance. However, I do not doubt that Fllay Allster is a step forward in mankind's evolution and must be studied," Chanka said.

"Okay- but why is she a target? Would not her children be a more of a risk than her?" asked Cagalli.

"I do not know and that's what is bothering me; by all counts, the children should be the target and not Fllay. I just cannot figure out why," admitted the older man with a sigh.

"Did you have any partners on the project or was she involved in any other experiment?"

"No on both; Fllay was mine alone, though LOGOS did have access to all my data. The price of being able to use their resources," stated Chanka with a frown.

"Too bad they are all dead and that many documents relating to the organization are gone," said Cagalli.

"I have never really believed that everyone involved in leadership in an organization that large was killed during the war."

"You think there are some players still around?" asked the Orb leader with interest.

"Maybe; I would not doubt that," Chanka said.

Cagalli went into deep thought about that and decided to consult Kisaka to see if he had any thoughts.

…..

Both Kira and Athrun stared at the car engine.

"Why did you decide to rent an older vehicle from a shady car rental?" asked Athrun as he turned to frown at his friend.

The two had been traveling for a few hours when suddenly the car died in the middle of a stretch of road that seemed to go on for miles. The surrounding terrain was desert and mountains; barren of any life. The sun was high in the sky, beating down on the two and making the air hot.

The two were dressed in formal civilian attire, giving the hint of being someone important but not too high on the hierarchal ladder. Their dark clothing was not suited for the environment which made them uncomfortable. They also lacked any change of clothing and have very little for liquid refreshments.

It was almost comical with a sense of cliché.

"I was trying to save money," was all Kira could say, continuing to stare at the dead engine.

"We pilot million credit machines, are using a converted freighter on an intelligence op that is costing Orb billions, and you are worried about saving money?" asked Athrun incredulously. He shook his head to contemplate it.

Kira just stood silent and looked around for a sign of civilization.

"So what do we do?" asked raven-haired Coordinator, wiping the sweat off of his face.

"We could try to fix it?" Kira suggested, motioning at the engine.

"We may be both engineers, but something this old is out of out league. We also do not have any tools with us," Athrun stated, giving his friend a frown.

The vehicle was battered and looked to be of a design from before the Reconstruction Wars. It was red, two door, and had a license plate that had the old United States flag on it. Three of the wheel covers were missing and the back bumper was held together with durable tape. It was amazing that it even ran at all.

"Okay, I guess we could call Shinn and have him come get us," the Ultimate Coordinator said, grabbing his phone.

"Oh, I am not looking forward to hearing about this," said military soldier sarcastically. He knew that the younger man would not let them live it down.

"We could just say lie and say that we were hit by something," said Kira as he dialed a number.

"That might work; why would anyone put a military base in an area such as this?" asked Athrun looking around and trying to make sense of it.

"What do you mean?" asked Kira with the receiver at his ear.

"North America is one of the greenest continents in the world. One would think that a military base would be in a more hospitable place," stated the young man.

"ZAFT has bases all over the Sahara," Kira countered, still waiting for a response.

"Yes, but that is because the African Community is mostly desert; there should be a difference here," Athrun said, wiping his brow again.

Kira just shrugged and still waited for his signal to go thru.

All of a sudden, there was a large roar in the sky and a shadow covered the two Coordinators. Both looked up to see a mobile suit overhead and descending towards them. Athrun was suddenly nervous due to the fact that the type of mobile suit as well as its color was well known. Kira put his phone down slightly, just as nervous as his friend.

The dark-colored Slaughter Dagger landed just a few meters from them and their vehicle. It was equipped with a jet striker pack and held a beam rifle in its right hand. While it was not pointed at the two Coordinators on the ground, they were nervous because if the mobile suit turned hostile there would be very little they could do to stop it.

"Need a lift?" called a voice from the mobile suit; catching the two young men on the ground by surprise. It was not hostile and even somewhat friendly.

"Yes please!" called out Kira, being as polite as possible.

After a few minutes, the two were back in the vehicle while the Slaughter Dagger hauled in it the air. The pilot told them that they were lucky since their breakdown was on the path of the routine patrol. If it wasn't, then they would have had quite a walk to make.

"I do not know who picked out that car, but boy were you two ripped off," laughed the pilot of the mobile suit.

Athrun just glared at Kira.

**Author's Note: Due to a technical problem involving a power surge, this chapter is a lot shorter than it was suppose to be. I apologize for that and promise the next one, which will be out next month barring any problems, will be much longer. The next chapter will feature Kira and Athrun again, a new OC, as well as more of Yzak and company. Also more will be revealed on why our villain is after Fllay.**

**Please R&R**


End file.
